Somebody Else's Arms
by tinyhuman02
Summary: Jackson chose to reject April. In retrospect, it was the wrong decision. However, fixing the problems between them won't be easy. Canon through 9x24.
1. Expect the Unexpected

**Someone awesome on tumblr gave me this idea, so I decided to roll with it. I'll warn you now this will likely be more angsty than fluff. I personally can't picture Jackson and April reuniting easily on the show, so it won't be easy here either. Anyway, I would like to know what you think, so please leave a review! :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Grey's or its characters. And anything medical related was written based on research.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_One more day_, Jackson Avery reminded himself as he changed into his navy blue scrubs. It was his first day back on the job at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital after a brief vacation. Although, he hadn't done much vacationing during his two-week break. He had spent most of his free time rehabilitating his sprained shoulder, an injury he sustained during his heroic effort to save a young girl from a bus explosion while using his much larger body to protect her from the blast. The super storm in Seattle had taken a toll on some of the doctors, both physically and emotionally. The plastic surgeon had the unpleasant luxury of experiencing both.

He glanced back at the untouched locker from across the room. While most of his fellow surgeons had either taken short vacations before returning to work, one of them remained out of town and she was the only doctor he desperately needed to see again. He considered himself lucky to be seeing her again at all.

Two weeks ago, April Kepner had surprised him when she unexpectedly decided she wanted _him_. It was a lot to take in after nearly killing himself trying to save another person. She chose him. She wanted to be with him, but there was one problem.

April was engaged to Matthew Taylor, the paramedic who proposed to her via flash mob, which had taken aback many of their coworkers and himself. Jackson hadn't realized how serious this man was about the trauma surgeon, but as her friend first, he decided to let her go and be happy with him. He thought Matthew was everything she had been seeking in a husband. Virgin, a man of faith. As Meredith Grey put it – he was the male Kepner.

The bus explosion seemed to turn her into an emotional wreck. She freaking attacked him in the pit while Callie Torres examined his injuries! Jackson had been caught off-guard by her tirade. He couldn't understand why she was so upset with him and turning him into a punching bag didn't help the matter. And he was exhausted and in pain. The last thing he wanted was to be lectured by April when she appeared at the foot of his hospital bed. Instead, she poured out her feelings to him, completely ignoring the fact that she was engaged to another man.

_"You're getting married."_

Jackson needed to repeat himself in order for the tearful redhead to snap out of her rambling for a minute. She had to have been caught up in the moment, he thought. He almost did blow up, so that obviously scared the crap out of her.

_"Unless you can give me a reason not to."_

In retrospect, he wished he had… instead of pushing her away. He wanted to believe everything she had told him didn't mean anything, that she would regret it in the morning because she was April Kepner. It didn't take long for her to regret words that came out of her mouth. Sometimes she lacked a filter, which typically got her in trouble because she neglected to think before she spoke.

Yeah, he convinced himself she acted on impulse and she would apologize for it later. So Jackson did what he felt was the right thing to do. He explained to April that Matthew was her guy, not him. Plus, he was still seeing Stephanie Edwards and he claimed to be content with being with her.

But looking back, all he could ask himself was, _"What the hell was I thinking?"_

He loved April and he missed her, but the timing to fix what was broken hadn't been on his side.

Soon after the chaos from the super storm died down, April hopped on a plane to Chicago to retake her oral boards. On her second try, despite the emotional rollercoaster she put herself through recently, she passed all three sessions and she could finally call herself a board certified surgeon. Hospitals who had previously revoked their offers when she failed her boards the first time were in touch with Owen Hunt again. Case Western Reserve, Mount Sinai, University of Virginia… even some new hospitals came calling.

The Chief gave his trauma attending time to weigh her options, though he preferred to have her back in Seattle. She proved her worth and reassured him that he had made the correct decision in rehiring her after initially taking her job away from her. The perky surgeon was one of his soldiers after all.

And sometime after Jackson rejected April, she had broken off her engagement to Matthew. It wasn't until she returned from her boards exam did he learn this. She was hurt by his rejection and avoided him as much as possible, but what surprised him the most was the fact that she ended her relationship with the paramedic the same night he told her to stay with him. If Alex Karev hadn't walked in on the unhappy couple in the middle of their break up, he probably would have found out much later.

It was then he realized that April's confession wasn't bullshit. She truly wanted to be with him and possibly spend the rest of her life with her best friend. He screwed up and hurt her. Honesty wasn't his strongest characteristic when feelings were involved, but he decided he couldn't stall any longer.

After breaking up with Stephanie, Jackson was prepared to tell April he loved her, but another problem arose – she was nowhere to be found. By the time he came to his senses, she was already on her way to Orlando. She and her sisters were taking part in a week-long cruise in the Bahamas. As frustrating as it was that he missed his chance, he was thankful to hear that she opted to stay at Grey Sloan Memorial over moving to a new hospital. He was determined to talk to her when she returned.

_One more day. One more day._

The following day, April would be back in Seattle. She was gone for a week, but even a day was unbearable for Jackson. He couldn't call her and telling her how he felt about her via e-mail was lazy. It had to be done in person.

"She's not dead, Avery," Cristina Yang scoffed, snapping the plastic surgeon out of his zone. She rolled her eyes as she slipped on her lab coat. "Quit staring at her locker like it's her death anniversary today. Kepner will be back tomorrow. Then you two can play out your soap opera confessions in the middle of a large trauma case."

He slowly turned towards the cardiothoracic surgeon, furrowing his eyebrows. Cristina had her own share of bitterness after she and Owen had broken up for what seemed like the umpteenth time to their colleagues. They were both miserable in their own ways. However, it was Yang – the person he thought cared the least about his problems with April – who advised him to stop hiding and be honest with the woman he loved.

"If only tomorrow was already here," Jackson answered dejectedly as he hung his stethoscope around his neck. "Do you think she'll be happy to see me? I mean, she has to know that Stephanie and I aren't together anymore, right?"

"You turned her down after she practically told you she loved you. What do you think?"

"April never specifically said she _loved_ me. She said she wanted me. There's a difference."

Cristina guffawed. "Please. I know you're a bit on the stupid side, but are you seriously that dense?" she bluntly said, ignoring the scowl on Jackson's face. "Why else would she dump Mr. Virgin What's-His-Face?"

"Well, I thought she was genuinely happy with Matthew. She accepted his proposal after he surprised her with that flash mob-"

"Oh, God. Do not mention the freaking flash mob," she painfully groaned. "I had a nightmare about that three days ago except I was the person sitting in that desk chair. It literally felt like I was in Hell with all of the happy dancing and those idiotic spirit fingers. I just got over it, so please don't bring it up again."

Jackson couldn't help but chuckle at her rant. It was no surprise to anybody that she loathed the entire flash mob sequence the most. "But you know what I'm talking about, right? April looked happy. Not fake happy, but authentic-"

"Why are we still talking about this like we're girlfriends? We're not girlfriends, Avery," Cristina chided and dismissively waved her hand at the pretty boy. "Go be girlfriends with Karev. Maybe he'll care more than I do."

"Third wheel to him and Wilson? I'll pass," he declined.

Alex Karev and Jo Wilson's relationship was new. The last thing they wanted was a sulking Jackson hanging around them when they preferred being alone. And Jo was Stephanie's best friend amongst the group of interns. He was not their favorite person at the moment.

Rather than continue to be ridiculed by his crude coworker, Jackson headed for the exit. He stopped in the doorway, looking back at Cristina. "Do you happen to know what time April's flight comes in tomorrow?"

She briefly glanced up at him while she tied her shoe. "Do I want children?"

"No," he responded with a puzzled expression.

"There's your answer," she nonchalantly replied.

"Whatever," he muttered before leaving the locker room.

Riding the elevator down a couple of floors, Jackson decided to pay Richard Webber a visit. If Miranda Bailey hadn't discovered his lifeless body in the hospital's basement, he for sure would have been a goner. His heart had stopped after he had been electrocuted by the fuse box that restored most of the power in the hospital. The general surgeon was able to resuscitate him, but he was far from safety. He suffered second and third degree burns on his left arm and his heart was fairly weakened by the shock. Cristina performed open heart surgery where she successfully removed blood clots that had developed. He remained hospitalized, but his vitals were stable. Unfortunately, his peers feared this was the end of his surgical career.

Jackson stopped in the doorway and knocked on the open door. "Good morning, Chief," he greeted his mother's boyfriend. Catherine Avery had been in Seattle since the day after the storm, but she was surprisingly missing. "Where is my mother?"

"Cafeteria. Decided to buy herself some coffee," Webber murmured. He was partially sitting up on his hospital bed while he read his newspaper, though he set it aside when Jackson appeared. "Here to check my burns?"

"Yep." The plastic surgeon approached him and stood beside his bed. He removed the dressings that covered the former Chief's left arm and examined his skin. There were splotches of growing skin in different areas, but none of them showed any signs of infection. "Looks like they're healing nicely so far. Another two or three weeks and they'll be fine. Might have some scarring, but your skin should be fully grown back."

"Thank you, Avery." Webber watched Jackson apply antibiotic cream onto his healing burns. "Your mother's worried about you. Says you seem bothered by something, but she has no idea what it is."

Jackson inhaled sharply and sighed. Of course Mama Avery wanted to know what was happening in his personal life. "She's always worried about me. Nothing new there," he casually replied.

Webber softly chuckled. "It doesn't have anything to do with April Kepner, does it?" he inquisitively asked. Jackson remained silent, which only raised his suspicions even more. "Word spreads, young man. And I may be older, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy listening to the gossip in the hallways. I'm not deaf. These ears still work just fine."

The man did start to somewhat take him under his wing, especially after Catherine bought him a hospital. And he hadn't been as nosy as his overbearing mother, so the least Jackson could do was talk to him. "Off the record? No telling my mom about this until I'm ready to?"

"Man to man," he said, holding up his right fist.

"What… are you doing?"

"You don't fist pump?"

"Oh," Jackson awkwardly responded and tapped his fist against Webber's as he smirked at the general surgeon. "I think you mean fist _bump_."

"Alright, no more stalling. What is going on between you and Kepner?"

Covering Webber's arm with new gauze, Jackson slightly shook his head. "I'm an idiot who let the woman I love walk away without telling her how I really feel about her," he answered disappointedly. "She's coming back tomorrow, but I'm not quite sure how to face her. I told her she belonged to someone else because I was too much of a coward to be honest with her… and myself."

"April broke off her engagement to that paramedic, correct?"

"She did."

"Then what are you afraid of? Sweep her off her feet," Webber advised. "Tell her the truth before it's too late."

Jackson frowned. "I'm thinking I might have blown it, though. We haven't spoken to each other since the night of the storm. She could still be hurt, you know? And she should be. I pushed her away." He heard his mother's boisterous voice from the hallway as he finished replacing Webber's dressings. "And that's my signal to bail."

Catherine entered the room energetic as always. "Good morning, baby," she greeted her son, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Did you eat any breakfast? I have a Danish for you if you're hungry."

"Nah, I'm good, but thanks." He knew if he didn't make his escape soon, he would be interrogated by Mama Avery until he cracked. "Well, my work here is done. Yang will be in here any minute now to check on you, sir."

"Oh, you can stay for a few minutes, Jackson," his mother insisted, pulling on his arm. "Have a seat. I know we see each other all the time in the hospital and outside of work, but we never get the chance to actually talk."

Jackson pointed over his shoulder as he stepped backwards. "I've got other patients to check on, Mom." He gave her a thumbs up with a cheesy grin on his face. "And in case you were wondering, his burns are healing smoothly."

"Hold on a second-" Catherine softly groaned, her hand resting against her hip as her baby boy quickly rushed out of the room. She turned towards Webber and raised her eyebrow at him. "So, were you able to break through to him?"

"Nope. He didn't tell me anything," Webber convincingly lied, smiling back at her. "Let him be. When he's ready he will talk to you."

* * *

Jackson spent time in the ER after being paged to treat a patient with a laceration on his cheek. The patient refused to let an amateur intern destroy his face, so he requested a plastic surgeon. Being in the pit brought back painful memories of that stormy night. He couldn't keep his mind off of April.

Normally, her perky attitude and high-pitched voice invaded the area and her presence was definitely needed. Owen had been in a sullen mood since his break up with Cristina, so the ER lacked that cheerful spunk April usually tried to spread around.

"Oww! Hey, man. I was told you were the best plastics guy this hospital has to offer, so could you at least numb me before you start stitching me up?" the man sitting on the bed complained. He was around his late 20's. Model type. No wonder he refused help from any interns or residents.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Tyler," Jackson apologized. He picked up the anesthesia and slowly injected it into his patient's cheek. Thinking about the redhead he dearly missed distracted him enough to forget to numb the guy.

Once he finished dealing with his patient, he walked towards the nurses' station where Callie sat behind the computer. The orthopedic surgeon was also dealing with her own relationship woes and she topped both him and Cristina in the heartbroken department. Nobody ever expected Arizona Robbins to cheat on her. They had a child together, which made the situation worse for the both of them. Whether or not they would resolve their problems, that remained up in the air.

"Mr. Model is good and gone," Jackson unenthusiastically announced and rested his forearms against the counter.

"I think you should've fixed him without the anesthesia. I would've loved to hear him scream some more," Callie quipped before she glanced up at him. "How's the shoulder? Any soreness or stiffness?"

"Only in the morning when I wake up. It's feeling better now," he answered, stretching his arm to show her the lack of discomfort in his shoulder. "No more PT for me. Anyway, what are you up to?"

"Nothing really. Why?"

Jackson lightly tapped his fingers against the counter before he responded curiously, "This is probably random, but do you know what time April's flight arrives tomorrow?"

"Actually, I _do_ know because I'm the one picking her up from the airport. She also has a special package for me, so that's another thing to pick up," the Latina stated, then she gazed back at the computer screen. "She's scheduled to arrive at around 11:30 tomorrow morning."

"You think uhh… I could pick her up instead?" he inquired eagerly. "I'll take care of your package too."

Callie smirked at the plastic surgeon. "You think that's a good idea? You two aren't exactly friends right now."

"We have unfinished business. I have to do this," Jackson confidently stated, then he pressed his palms together and rested his fingertips underneath his chin. He sheepishly grinned at her. "Please? I don't want to beg, Torres."

"Hmm… I don't know. Seeing you beg would be entertaining," she teasingly replied. Callie shrugged her shoulders and softly laughed. "Okay, okay. You don't have to beg, Avery. Go ahead and pick her up. Alaska Airlines, flight 19. Just be very careful with my package, alright? I would like it in one piece tomorrow."

Snapping his fingers and pointing at his fellow board member, Jackson widely grinned at Callie. "I promise your package will be safe. Thank you for this. I owe you one."

His mood suddenly became brighter as he walked towards the elevator. The situation couldn't be more perfect for him. Once April spotted him waiting for her at the airport, she had to know he was sorry for pushing her away. No more avoiding each other's feelings. He wanted her and nobody else.

* * *

Waiting in the baggage claim area of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jackson anticipated April's arrival as passengers from her flight began filing in. Dressed in a white buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark blue jeans, he occasionally bounced onto his tip toes as he searched for his redheaded woman to appear. He wanted to prove to her that he was done messing around, so he bought a bouquet of roses along the way. While he hardly ever gave flowers to women he dated, he knew she was the type of woman who appreciated them.

He nervously checked his watch for what seemed like the tenth time. It was fifteen past 11:30. Her flight had landed on time, but she hadn't appeared yet. Jackson hoped he hadn't missed her and she was already long gone from the airport. Or worse, she saw him first and chose to dodge him before he could find her.

But his paranoia disappeared when he finally spotted April riding the escalator down to baggage claim. Clutching her purse against one shoulder, she looked incredibly gorgeous in his eyes. Her red locks flowed over her shoulders and he couldn't care less about the fact that her face was slightly sunburned. He fought the urge to run towards her, swoop her into his arms and kiss her lips. The surprise factor felt more romantic to him.

Jackson took a deep breath as she walked towards his direction. She still hadn't seen him with the many other arrivals weaving around and past her. Holding up the bouquet of roses in his right hand, he smiled hoping she would see him soon.

April stopped walking as she searched for somebody. Perhaps she expected Callie to be waiting for her, but it wasn't the orthopedic surgeon she was looking for.

His smile faded when an unknown Caucasian man caught up with the trauma surgeon after rushing down the escalator. He was tall with dirty blonde hair and a little bit of stubble on his face. April appeared to know the man as she smiled and started walking alongside him.

And all Jackson could say to himself was, "Who the fuck is this guy?"

* * *

**If you're flipping out, it's not what you think. More will be explained in the next chapter, including flashbacks to what happened to MA/JS ;)**


	2. Back and Forth

**Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate it and I'm happy you're interested in this story. I'm not good at writing break ups, but I hope I did them justice :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**_Two weeks ago…_**

_"Unless you can give me a reason not to."_

_Jackson stared intensely at April, who tried her hardest to fight back her tears. She hoped he would give her an answer. It had taken a while for her to fully realize who her heart belonged to. Matthew was kind, caring and he loved her, but she knew she would be lying to him and to herself if she said the feeling was mutual._

_Sure, she reacted quite aggressively with the plastic surgeon, but she wore her heart on her sleeve. A bus exploded in front of her and she thought Jackson hadn't made it out in time! How could she not freak out?_

_It was quiet and tense between them, making her uncomfortable. Was she speaking another language to him? Did he need more time for her confession to sink in? Did she make a mistake in telling him everything in the midst of a chaotic storm?_

_"Jackson," she murmured, fidgeting with the hem of her navy blue scrubs. "Say something. Please."_

_He slightly shifted on his hospital bed and sighed. "April, I'm not entirely convinced _you_ know what you just told me. It wasn't too long ago that you accepted a proposal – a very extravagant proposal from Matthew," he started. "I saw your face. You were happy and we all saw how much he made you happy."_

_April furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "W-what are you saying?"_

_"I get it, alright? You were worried that I died in that explosion. I would have reacted the same way as you if it were the other way around except I wouldn't have started beating on you like you did earlier," he responded. "But I know you, April. Sometimes you don't think rationally before you open your mouth. Tomorrow morning… who knows what you'll tell me? Right now, you're emotional and tired-"_

_"I have every right to be emotional!" the trauma surgeon retorted. She couldn't believe he thought she was talking out of her ass. "I mean, I just told you how I felt. And- and you almost died-"_

_"Exactly. I almost died and near death experiences make people crazy." Jackson grimaced at the hurt reaction on April's face. He immediately regretted his words because it wasn't the first time he referred to her as crazy and she took offense to it. "I'm sorry. What I meant was you're reacting in the now. What about tomorrow? Listen, I don't know Matthew very well, but from what I can tell he cares about you. A lot."_

_"I know he does, but he's not you," April argued. She briefly wiped away a tear that had trickled down her cheek. "Jackson, you know me better than anybody else. Things didn't go well the first time we were together because we were never on the same page, but I know what I want. Don't tell me how I'm supposed to feel."_

_He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm with Stephanie. I've moved on. Some people were never meant to be together. No matter how hard they fight to make things work, they just can't. You and Matthew-"_

_"Don't bother," she cut him off and backed away from his bed. April choked back a sob as her eyes swelled with tears. She understood and didn't need to hear the rest of his explanation. Pulling open the curtain behind her, she refused to make eye contact with him. "Goodbye, Jackson."_

_She left him alone without looking back._

* * *

_April sauntered down the dimly lit hallway as she failed to control the tears streaming down her face. She had been rejected by Jackson, whom she considered to be her best friend, at least in the past before their friendship turned into something more. He didn't want her and her heart stung thinking about it. Maybe she was being too selfish, she thought. Matthew was willing to give her another chance after she had lied to him about her virginity, but she found herself more emotional for a man who rejected her feelings._

_She couldn't continue her relationship with the paramedic knowing her true feelings were for someone else._

_Rounding the corner, she found Matthew sitting on the floor. He had his arms resting on his knees and he stared at the wall as if he were lost in thought. Slowly approaching him, her shoe squeaked against the floor, which caught his attention. He quickly pushed himself up when he noticed her, but he didn't appear to be very pleased to see her._

_"We need to talk," she said in a serious tone, though her voice was shaky from crying earlier. He simply nodded his head and followed her into an on-call room. April dried her eyes with her scrub top before she spoke again. "I umm… th-there's something I have to tell you."_

_"I saw… what happened between you and Avery," Matthew admitted, placing his hands on his hips and shaking his head. "I just don't understand why you- was he the man you slept with? Because the way you reacted… are you in love with him?"_

_April nervously bit her lower lip and frowned at him. "I am," she softly whispered. The guilt caused the waterworks to start up again. "I-I I don't want to hurt you, Matthew. You're an amazing man, but I can't marry you."_

_"If you're in love with somebody else, then why would you accept my proposal?" he angrily questioned._

_"I thought I had everything I wanted!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in frustration. "You organized this flash mob with my friends, in front of my coworkers and I was flattered. But I've been so messed up and confused for a long time now. I'm not good at this, being in relationships. It took me a long time to find somebody who could tolerate me for being neurotic and anal retentive and annoying to most people. I'm glad you didn't care about any of that, I really do… but you don't get me. You think you know me, but you don't."_

_Matthew stepped forward and gently grabbed April's shoulders. "Then let me get to know you. A major part of a successful relationship is honesty. You were honest with me once-"_

_"Yeah, and you dumped me!" she reminded him, pulling away from him. "We can share every detail about ourselves, but that won't change anything. It's not going to change how I feel about Jackson."_

_"I don't understand what you see in him. Sure, he's this good looking guy-"_

_"He's more than a good looking guy to me! Jackson and I go all the way back to our Mercy West days. We met as interns and he became my best friend. I gave my virginity to him because I trusted him and now…" April covered her mouth with her hand as she sobbed. "But I'm not breaking up with you for him. He… he doesn't love me back. I-I I'm doing this for me. And you deserve someone who is all in and loves you too. That person isn't me."_

_Before Matthew could respond, the door swung open and Alex walked inside. He appeared to be accompanying a woman, who couldn't be seen from their view. The pediatric surgeon stepped back when he realized it was occupied. "Oh, sorry," he muttered and flipped on the light switch. "Uhh, just wanted to let you know the electricity's working again or whatever."_

_His eyes switched back and forth between the dorky redhead and her dorky companion. It was clear to him he had interrupted some sort of drama based on how puffy April's eyes were. And Matthew just looked pissed._

_"We're just about done here, Karev," she insisted, flipping open the inside of her scrub top. She fumbled with the safety pin that kept her engagement ring in place, an idea Callie had given her, so she wouldn't keep running it into things. After removing it from her scrub top, she forcefully shoved the diamond ring into Matthew's hand and ran out of the on-call room, ignoring the fact that Jo had also witnessed the end of the break up._

_Alex watched April run down the hallway, furrowing his eyebrows. He glared at Matthew, who sadly stared at the ring in his hand. "Dude, what'd you do to her?" he accusingly asked._

_ Prior to walking in on the twosome, he had been looking forward to finally being alone with Jo, but seeing how upset the trauma surgeon was changed his priorities. He and April weren't necessarily close friends, though he felt compelled to protect her._

_Matthew ignored the pediatric surgeon, bumping his shoulder into his as he walked out. Alex responded the Karev way by grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the wall. "Hey, I asked you a question, so you better give me a freaking answer before my fist becomes your new best friend," he threatened him._

_"Alex, stop! Whatever it is, it's none of our business," Jo intervened, pulling him away from the paramedic. "We don't need to go through this again. Leave him alone."_

_He released Matthew from his grip and walked past him. "I'm gonna go look for Kepner."_

_The taller man fled the other direction, clenching his fist as he headed for the pit. He was a man who believed he could never actually hate a person, but he absolutely loathed Jackson Avery. He whipped open the curtain to Jackson's bed and stopped in his tracks when he found the plastic surgeon being comforted by Stephanie._

_"What?" Jackson irritably acknowledged him._

_Matthew shook his head. "You really have no idea, do you?" he scoffed before he walked away without bothering to close the curtain. It was the last time both men encountered each other._

* * *

**_Five days later…_**

_"Did you hear? Stanford's trying to lure Kepner away from here," Cristina half-heartedly mentioned as she took the empty seat beside Jackson's at Joe's. Already sitting at the bar with them was Alex, who was seated on the opposite side of the plastics fellow. "She might be better off. I doubt she'll blow up or get impaled by an icicle or cheat death every year in Palo Alto."_

_"Since when was Stanford interested in her?" Jackson, whose left arm was in a sling while his shoulder sprain continued to heal, curiously asked. He hadn't seen or spoken to April since their confrontation in the pit. She was definitely avoiding him._

_Alex sipped his beer before he answered, "Since she became board certified."_

_"What?" he responded with a puzzled expression on his face. "When did she take her boards?"_

_"Dude, where the hell have you been? She came back from Chicago last night after passing her boards," his drinking buddy replied, smirking back at him. "Everyone else knew about it. I was even nice enough to congratulate her. She needed this after Paramedic Doofus and her broke up."_

_Both Cristina and Jackson stared at Alex with raised eyebrows. He didn't quite know anything other than what he had seen. Searching for April after she ran off was a fail and he figured the gossip would spread from someone else since everybody knew each other's business within a day or two._

_"They broke up and you didn't tell me? When?" Jackson inquired._

_"Uhh, that night during the storm. I just happened to walk in on those two arguing and…" Alex rolled his eyes. "I didn't see a whole lot of it. April gave back the ring and ran off. I was gonna kick the guy's ass, but went after her instead. Couldn't find her, though. I'm willing to bet my life on it that those two are finito. Was I seriously the only person other than Jo to know this?"_

_The cardiothoracic surgeon chuckled. "Apparently," she replied in amusement. "I guess we won't be forced to line dance at their wedding after all."_

_Jackson's mind flashed back to what Matthew had said to him that night. If he hadn't been so annoyed to see the paramedic in the first place, he might have figured it out sooner. And Stephanie had been by his side, so he was also distracted by her presence. He closed his eyes and sighed in disappointment. April meant every word she had said to him._

_"It wasn't bullshit," he mumbled to himself, drawing curious looks from his coworkers._

_"What wasn't bullshit?" Cristina asked._

_He opened his eyes and groaned. "She told me she wanted me that same night, but I took it the wrong way."_

_"How the hell can you take that the wrong way? Sounds pretty obvious to me that she wanted you," she ridiculed him. "Clearly, she missed her Jackson Action. She wasn't getting any from Matthew, that's for sure. Did you know he's a virgin? I mean, I'm not surprised. He seemed very virgin-y with his awkwardness and that goofy dance sequence, but Mer confirmed it with me. I guess April told her he was a virgin. Oh, and didn't you have to deal with burns on his ass? That means you got to see his ass before she did-"_

_"Yang, shut up," Jackson interrupted her rambling, resting his right elbow on the counter and covering his face with his hand. He was mentally cursing at himself for rejecting April's advances. She had come to the realization that he was her guy and instead, he pushed her towards the other guy, only for her to dump him that same night. "Son of a bitch."_

_"Oh my God, are you crying? Because if you are, I'd rather you lean on Karev's shoulder to dry your bitch baby tears," Cristina teased._

_He dropped his arm onto the counter. "Fucking A. I want her too," he finally admitted. "I didn't think she was serious. I mean, c'mon. I almost died, so I thought she was acting out because of that."_

_Cristina unexpectedly slapped him upside the head. "Sorry, I'm not sorry. You deserved that," she bluntly said, while Jackson rubbed the back of his head and glared back at her. "Stop being a pussy and tell April how you feel. I knew from the second I heard you two were sleeping together that you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off of each other. Quit acting like you and Grumpy have this undeniable love for each other. You and I both know she's just a distraction for you, so you won't think about who you actually care about."_

_Alex snickered beside him. "I'm with Yang. Look, I don't think I'll ever get you and Kepner, but you can't help who you freaking fall for," he chimed in. "Dude, I'm telling you this as nicely as possible – don't be an idiot."_

_"And also admit that you two would be so lost without my words of wisdom," she arrogantly added, drawing eye rolls from both men. "Don't hate me because I'm right."_

_"Whatever," the pediatric surgeon muttered as Cristina left them alone. He turned around at the sound of the small bell that rung whenever customers arrived or left the bar. Their respective interns turned girlfriends appeared for their sort of double date after their shifts. "Like I said, I'm with Yang."_

_Jackson spun around in his seat as Alex ditched him to greet Jo. He emptied his glass of whiskey as Stephanie approached him, smiling and eager to see him after a long day. "Hey," he unenthusiastically greeted her._

_"Ugh, today was the worst. I had two patients throw up on me and I was on Hunt's service. He's been in a mood since he and Yang called it quits," the intern whined before she leaned forward to kiss him. However, he moved his head and she caught his cheek instead. "Something wrong?"_

_"I… uhh…" He barely made eye contact with her, feeling guilty for what he was about to do. "I can't do this anymore."_

_"Do what exactly?" Stephanie slowly asked, folding her arms._

_Jackson gestured his hand towards her and back to himself. "This. I've been lying to you… and myself. You're great. And fun. We were having fun, but you and me – it's not what I want," he confessed, running his hand over his shaved head. He was in between buzzed and drunk, so he wasn't in the best condition for a long speech, but she needed to know the truth. "I thought I could move on. I was fooling myself to think my feelings could fade away-"_

_"What the hell are you trying to tell me?" she furiously questioned. "Have you been seeing another woman behind my back the entire time?"_

_"No, that's not what I meant. But there is someone else," he confirmed. "And I'm in love with her. I'm sorry for leading you on-"_

_He couldn't finish what he wanted to say because Stephanie slapped his cheek hard. She stormed off to the women's restroom. Alex and Jo had witnessed it from across the room, so the latter chased after her friend. Karev offered a sympathetic shoulder shrug, while Jackson gently rubbed his cheek. Humiliating? Yes, but he couldn't deny that he deserved that as well. He had played mind games with Stephanie and he knew he should have stopped it when he hadn't called her for eleven freaking days._

_But he was a coward. His feelings for April resurfaced every now and then, yet he fought hard to keep them buried. He didn't want to hide anymore. Jackson rushed out of the bar to talk to April._

* * *

_Operation Reconcile with April was a bust. Jackson arrived at her apartment the previous night and he was prepared to knock on her door, but he had stopped himself. He wasn't sober and if he wanted her to believe he was sincere about his feelings, he needed to do it without the drunken mannerisms and bad breath. He decided to catch her at the hospital the following day._

_He wasn't on call, but he had physical therapy for his shoulder. On his way to the PT clinic, Jackson bumped into Owen in the hallway. "Dr. Hunt," he greeted him. "Uhh, do you know if April's here today?"_

_"You just missed her, Avery. She's gone for the week, going on a cruise with her sisters. Bahamas, I think," the Chief of Surgery answered. "Stopped by a few hours ago, then she got on a plane to Orlando."_

_"Dammit," he mumbled under his breath, shoving his right hand into his pocket. "I heard she passed her boards and uhh, other hospitals were requesting for her service again. Any updates on that?"_

_"Well, she had some high class hospitals going after her. I told her to take her time, but she surprised me this morning when she came by my office to tell me that she was staying here," Owen informed the plastics fellow. "Turns out I _can_ do something right. She's going to be a fine trauma surgeon. I'm glad I'll have her around for longer."_

_Jackson slowly nodded his head. He was angry at himself for blowing his opportunity to talk to her. Now he was forced to wait a whole week before he could see her face again. "Yeah," he sighed. "Me too."_

* * *

Jackson couldn't feel more embarrassed as he watched the mystery man and April stand by one of the luggage carousels waiting for their belongings to arrive. He almost completely forgot about the bouquet of roses in his hand. There was no freaking way he wanted her to see him holding flowers, while some guy he already despised accompanied her.

_Shit, shit, shit. Do something with the roses, you fucking moron!_

He spotted a young couple nearby and literally shoved the bouquet into the man's hand. "Here, take this. You two look like a very happy couple," he ordered.

"Couple? She's my sister," the man retorted.

"Just take it, you douche!" Jackson assertively responded, then he quickly walked away from the siblings before they could return the roses to him. He took a deep breath and decided to make his presence known. Slowly approaching April and the blonde man, his stomach felt like it was in knots as he tapped her on the shoulder. "Hi, April."

The redhead was taken aback when she finally noticed him. "Jackson," she timidly replied. "Umm, what are you doing here? I thought Callie was supposed to be here."

He half-smiled at her. "Actually, she asked me to pick you up. She's got… things to deal with. You know, with Robbins and stuff," he lied. Glancing over the top of her head, he eyed the blonde man staring back at him. His arms were built similarly to his, though he convinced himself he could totally out bench the guy. "Is this a friend of yours?"

"Oh!" she gasped, turning towards the man. "This is Ryan Abbott. He's the new ortho attending at Grey Sloan Memorial – which is why I was expecting Callie to pick us up, so she could meet him. But he _is_ a friend of mine, actually. Well, an old friend. We grew up together in Moline before he moved away when we were twelve. Small world, huh?"

"And an even smaller world, April and I ran into each other in Chicago. She was on a connecting flight to Seattle, which also happened to be _my_ flight as well. I had no clue she worked at the same hospital I recently decided to move to," Ryan explained, then he extended his hand out to Jackson. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name, man."

"Jackson Avery," the pretty boy answered, firmly shaking his new coworker's hand. "I'm a plastic surgeon there."

"Cool shit. How do you and April know each other? I mean, besides working together."

April opened her mouth and hesitated to answer. She cleared her throat as she looked back at Jackson. "We go back… all the way to our intern year when Mercy West was still a hospital. Yeah, we've known each other for a while now."

Jackson slightly winced at her response. She couldn't even call him a friend. Then again, he partly blamed himself for that. Also, Ryan's name sounded familiar to him. He was certain April had talked about him in the past when she used to tell him stories about her childhood. "So, uhh… are you the same Ryan who dared himself to eat paint and almost died?" He softly chuckled. "Pretty stupid, if you ask me."

Ryan laughed and playfully nudged April's shoulder. "You told him about that story? But yeah, in retrospect, it was pretty damn stupid," he recalled as she awkwardly smiled at him. "It's fine, though. I'm alive, aren't I? Thanks for bringing up that memory, man."

_Stop calling me man, ya fucker,_ Jackson internally cursed him out. They weren't acquaintances and he most definitely didn't want to be his friend. He knew April couldn't have hooked up with another man so quickly. That wasn't her, but just seeing her with any other man who wasn't him made him insanely jealous.

And she wasn't entirely thrilled to see him at the airport. She could hardly look him in the eye.

He noticed her suitcase rounding the carousel and he only recognized it because of the bright purple name tag with the Grey Sloan Memorial logo attached to it. "Oh, there's your luggage. I got it."

"No, you don't have t-" April pursed her lips when he ignored her and retrieved her suitcase for her. She inhaled sharply as he set it beside her, but he kept his hand on the handle. "Thank you."

Jackson smirked after she forcefully removed his hand from her luggage. "How was the Bahamas?" he asked, trying to spark a friendly conversation with her.

"It was relaxing. I enjoyed seeing all of my sisters in one place again," she politely answered.

"So… where's this package I'm supposed to bring back to Torres?"

"You just met him," April said, nodding her head at Ryan, who retrieved one of two suitcases. After he found the other one, she pointed towards the exit. "Okay, we're all set."

They followed Jackson to the parking garage. Ryan was already trying to get to know him better by asking him questions about the hospital, while April trailed behind them. He answered the orthopedic surgeon as nicely as possible, but he preferred running him over with his car. While his conscience was telling him that he was being way too harsh with his opinions of the new guy, he just really wanted to be alone with his best friend.

April was fairly quiet during the drive to her apartment. She let Ryan and Jackson talk for the most part and only spoke when either men asked her a question. When they arrived at her place she willingly carried her suitcase up the stairs, refusing help from Jackson.

He waited outside as she and Ryan entered her apartment. Normally, he could simply walk inside without being invited, but he hesitated. "Do you have any plans later?" he asked, slipping his hands into his pockets.

She turned around and stood in the doorway. "Probably going to take a nap before I take Ryan to his apartment. Then after he's settled in, we'll get some dinner or something. That's about it. Gotta fight the jet lag."

"Can I stop by-"

"Anyway, thanks for picking us up. I'll see you at work tomorrow," she cut him off, stepping back to close the front door.

Jackson was stunned that April shut the door in his face before he could say anything else. And he was slightly hurt that she hadn't invited him inside or to have dinner with her, which used to be automatic between the two of them. Her face may not have shown it, but he came to the conclusion that she was still very much pissed at him for breaking her heart.

* * *

**I hope this chapter cleared some things up for you. Next up - first day back at work, the docs meet Ryan and awkwardness for J&A :)**


	3. The New Guy

**Thanks again for the reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me your so-called package was a person?" Jackson irritably questioned Callie as he followed her into an elevator. "And April knows Abbott. She grew up with him. Is that why you didn't tell me about him?"

"Loosen the panties, Avery. I had no idea those two had a connection with each other," the orthopedic surgeon insisted. She pressed the button to the fifth floor. "When I was organizing my schedule I noticed they were arriving on the same flight, so the day before her flight from Orlando I asked Kepner to give him an early welcome if she managed to spot him."

Jackson leaned back against the railing and sighed. "What are we hiring another ortho attending for anyway? You're the best one we have. Plus, there are four other good attendings and fellows working here already."

Callie smiled to herself. "You are looking at the new Head of Orthopedic Surgery," she proudly announced. "That dinosaur, Dr. Cheng, _finally_ retired shortly after the storm, so Hunt promoted me last week. Dr. Abbott is my first hire and a great one at that."

"How did I not know this either?" the plastics man asked her in frustration. First, he missed out on April becoming board certified and breaking off her engagement to Matthew. Now, one of his colleagues was granted a new role at the hospital. "You and I are board members at this hospital. Why wasn't I informed? I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm all for you becoming in charge of Ortho, but I own this place too."

"You've been distracted. Perhaps it _was_ mentioned to you, but it went into one ear and out the other," she implied, stepping out of the elevator when the doors opened. "We've all been distracted by crap. It's not just you."

He continued to follow her, placing his hands on his hips as he walked alongside her. "So, tell me about this guy. Besides some childhood stories from April, I've never heard of him in the surgical world."

"Well, he went to medical school at Yale-"

"Wonderful," Jackson interrupted the Latina woman. He figured he would eventually find a reason to loathe Ryan. Being a Yale alum was a legitimate excuse for him. "You know I went to Harvard, right?"

"And I don't care," Callie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "He completed his residency and fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. Ryan's written a couple of brilliant research articles on cartilage regeneration, something I've always been interested in, so I jumped at the opportunity to lure him to Seattle. If we want to become the best hospital in the nation, we have to recruit the best. Seriously, what is your problem with him?"

He decided to keep his mouth shut knowing she would give him grief over being jealous of a man who had zero romantic ties to April. They entered the attendings lounge where Ryan appeared to be entertaining the other surgeons inside with a story from his childhood.

"Next thing I know, I'm flying in midair before I land into this lake by her farm," the new doctor recalled, sharing a laugh with April. He playfully nudged his old friend. "And she started crying hysterically. Not because I could've killed myself but because she thought her father would ground her for life for sneaking out two of his better horses."

"We were ten! I thought staying up past midnight was daring," April chuckled.

Cristina smirked at the two Ohio natives. "Huh, and here I thought you two spent your summers picking flowers or chucking corn at cars passing by on the highway," she commented. Peeking over Ryan's shoulder, she noticed Callie and Jackson standing nearby. The latter seemed unimpressed by the newbie's presence, so she greeted him with a fake yet cheerful tone. "Hey, Avery."

April turned around, briefly making eye contact with Jackson before she smiled at Callie. "Dr. Torres, here's your brand new ortho attending," she chirped. "Oh, and congratulations on your new position! You deserve it."

"Right back at ya with the passing of your boards," Callie answered, then she extended out her hand to Ryan. "Calliope Torres, but you can call me Callie. It's an honor you chose to continue your career at Grey Sloan Memorial, Dr. Abbott. I'm really looking forward to us working together."

"It's a pleasure to be here, thank you. So far, everybody's been welcoming here." Ryan nodded his head at Jackson and grinned at him. "What's up, man? Long time, no see."

Jackson forced himself to smile. Being called man never annoyed him more than it did now. "Likewise," he replied through gritted teeth. "Uhh, heard you attended the Yale School of Medicine. I, on the other hand, went to Harvard. I believe it's the number one medical school in the nation."

The blonde attending softly laughed. "Harvard, huh? Great school, no doubt about that." He gently patted Jackson's chest with the back of his hand and winked at him. "But Yale's got the winning record against you guys in football, so it's all good."

Being a sports nut and a former football player at Harvard, that jab hit him right in the heart. And he thought Cristina was the queen of snarky comments. Maybe her real king had finally arrived.

As if more tension was needed, Arizona walked into the lounge. The room suddenly grew silent because by then everybody was aware of her separation from Callie. She had been living with Alex and Cristina, which made for a dysfunctional household. Instead of greeting her peers with her perkiness, the pediatric surgeon quietly poured herself a cup of coffee as if she were invisible to the world.

Clearing her throat, Callie motioned her hand towards the door. "Have you seen our labs yet? I've been growing my own cartilage for about three years now," she offered, fighting her hardest to keep her composure.

"I haven't. I would love to see that, Dr. Torres," Ryan agreed, curiously glancing back and forth between his boss and Arizona. He was completely unaware of the fact that he joined a staff caught up in a whirlwind of drama.

"Can I come with? Hunt allowed me to give him a tour of the hospital before he's officially put to work," April inquired, though the truth was she simply didn't want to be in the same room as Jackson, especially with the way he fixedly stared at her.

"Sure. Let's go," the orthopedic surgeon said, leading the two doctors out of the attendings lounge.

Cristina snickered before she sipped her coffee. "Somebody's avoiding you," she teased in a playful tone. "And Abbott sure knows how to get under your skin, Avery. I like him already."

"Shut up," Jackson muttered, leaving the lounge through another door.

* * *

After Callie showed off her display of homemade cartilage to Ryan, April gave him a tour of the hospital. She brought him to the OR's, the cafeteria and she saved the ER for last. During that time they continued to reminisce about their childhood and she updated him on her current life – her professional life to be exact. She wasn't ready to tell him about the madness that had happened with Jackson and Matthew.

On their way back to the cafeteria for an early lunch, she heard a very loud and familiar voice calling out her name from behind. April slowly turned around, softly smiling at Catherine Avery. "Dr. Avery," she politely greeted the urologist.

"April Kepner, how are you, sweetie?" she cheerfully replied, pressing her hands on April's cheeks. "Congratulations on becoming board certified! And I'm very sorry to hear about your broken engagement to… what was his name again?"

"Matthew," the redhead murmured.

"Yes, Matthew. Funny, I didn't even know you were engaged in the first place, let alone dating somebody. Gotta love how fast gossip spreads around in this hospital. Anyway, don't worry about it, baby. Sometimes you have to explore your options before you find that perfect man," Mama Avery assured her. She leaned forward and whispered, "What was the problem, baby? Couldn't perform?"

_Performance wasn't the issue because he was a freaking virgin._

April nervously laughed as she shyly glanced down at the floor. "Umm… no. It wasn't that. He… wasn't- well, it just didn't work out," she stammered. Ryan gave her a quick nudge, forcing her to remember their conversation wasn't exactly private. "By the way, this is Ryan Abbott. He's an ortho attending. It's his first day here."

Catherine shook Ryan's hand, smiling as she momentarily checked him out. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Abbott. Are you single?"

"Yes, I am. Are _you_ single?" he jokingly asked her.

Both doctors laughed, while April awkwardly bit her lower lip. Catherine placed her hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Oh, no. If I was, I would wish I was twenty years younger to have a chance with you. How is a handsome man like you still single?" She slyly grinned at the trauma surgeon. "And would you look at this? April's looking for someone too. Poor woman's been so uptight. Once you two get to know each other better, I bet she'll finally understand why us women need _attention_ in more ways than one."

And after all of this time, April thought Catherine gave up on meddling with her sex life. They hadn't spoken much since the latter bought the hospital for her baby boy. It was almost as if they were in separate worlds. It was also clear to her that she remained clueless about Jackson. Perhaps it was best if his mother never found out at all, she thought.

"Actually, Ryan and I grew up together in Moline. He was pretty much my best friend until he moved away," the embarrassed surgeon noted.

"Well, then that's perfect! What are you waiting for, young man? Ask the woman out and take her to dinner," Catherine encouraged Ryan, squeezing his shoulder. She smirked at April, whose cheeks were a bright shade of red. Even her sunburned face couldn't hide her blushing. And her body appeared to be tense. "You see? This is what I'm talking about. She is too wound up. Do something about that, Ryan."

April waved her hands and sighed. "Th-that's not necessary, Dr. Avery."

Catherine covered April's mouth with her hand. "You've waited way too long, baby. I'm doing you a favor by setting you up. At least the man beside you isn't a stranger," she insisted, lowering her hand to her side. "One more thing before I leave you two alone. I know I promised Jackson I would stay out of his personal life, but there is definitely something going on with him that he won't tell me. You know how he is at times. It's like you have to literally pull out his teeth before he finally speaks. Do you know what's bothering him?"

_I gave him my virginity and we had a lot of hot sex. He then rejected me and showed up at the airport yesterday as if nothing happened. I don't give a crap about what's bothering him._

"No. I can't say that I know," she softly replied. "Maybe… maybe it's a work related issue. He's got a lot on his plate being a board member and a surgeon. I mean, you did give him a hospital. It's not like a Christmas present you can fit underneath the tree-"

"Okay, I heard you. You can quit your rambling," Catherine interrupted her. She smiled back at Ryan. "Was she like this as a child too?"

The blonde man nodded enthusiastically. "For sure. She could talk a person's head off with her stories. Never gave me a chance to talk-" He pursed his lips when she elbowed his side and glared at him. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Dr. Avery. We'll be on our way now."

"Don't forget what I told you, Dr. Abbott," she reminded him as she walked away from the twosome. "Try not to strike out with her. Keep pounding on that door until you break in."

April closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head. It wasn't the first time Mama Avery embarrassed her with the sex talk, but she considered their most recent conversation to be the worst of them all. Mainly due to the fact that she practically pimped her out to Ryan. He was an attractive man, but they hardly knew each other in the adult sense and she had only been reunited with her childhood friend for a day. Prior to meeting in the airport, she hadn't seen or spoken to him in almost twenty years. In many ways, they were somewhat strangers to each other.

"So that's Jackson's mother? She's… entertaining," Ryan amusingly said. "From the sounds of it, you and Jackson seem close. Did you two date or whatever? Because yesterday, there was some obvious tension at the airport. I didn't want to ask you initially since we were both tired-"

"We're not close," she replied agitatedly. "He… he's an old friend just like you are. That's all."

* * *

Jackson stepped out of the elevator leading to the ER. Throughout the day, he hadn't been able to talk to April. Consults, a couple of minor procedures in the OR and boring paperwork prevented him from confronting her downstairs in the pit. She was standing behind the nurses' station, scrolling through her tablet and double checking the patients' statuses listed on the video screen.

He casually approached her and leaned against the counter in front of her. "Hey, can we talk?" Just as the plastic surgeon expected, April remained silent. "Fine. You don't have to say anything, but I'm going to keep talking whether you want to listen to me or not. I want you to know that I broke up with Stephanie."

"Congratulations. Would you like a gold star for that?" April sarcastically answered while she stared at her tablet's screen. "Also, you need to stop with the creepy staring. It's not flattering. It's disturbing."

"April, please. Can we do this without the attitude?" he pleaded. "I don't blame you for being upset with me, but you can't continue to avoid me if we're going to work in the same hospital. I want us to have a civil conversation – as friends like before."

The redhead guffawed as she shook her head. "We're not friends, Jackson. We can act like friends, but the truth is, we aren't _friends_. Everything's different now." She glanced up at him. "And what exactly did you expect from me after telling me you and Stephanie are done? Do you honestly think I'm going to celebrate and be happy about that? Am I supposed to throw myself at you because we're both single?"

"No, but you barged in and spilled all these feelings to me without giving me any time for it to sink in," he argued. "We were both messed up that night. How was I supposed to know at that exact moment you meant what you said?"

"For you to even ask me that shows just how much we've drifted apart," she retorted.

"You were _engaged_."

"And I'm not anymore, so what does that tell you? For the record, I didn't break up with Matthew, so I can hope for us to be together again. I didn't choose to stay here for you either," April explained with her arms folded. "I'm telling you now that my world does not revolve around you, Jackson. We want different things and I'm trying to accept that. Let me live my life and I'll let you live yours. If you want us to be friends again, then we can work on that. But for now, I prefer you give me some space."

Jackson frowned. He knew mending their problems wouldn't be a cakewalk, but it hurt to hear her say they weren't friends. While he understood that she was hurting as well, he hadn't expected her to openly admit that their friendship was nonexistent. But April had a point. Everything between them had changed after they slept together. They were best friends first. He thought he knew her better than anyone else until she dropped the Jesus bomb on him.

Looking back at their messy relationship, he wished he could have been more considerate with her religious beliefs. Instead of looking out for himself during her neurotic ramblings about dessert and car crashes, he thought maybe he should have tried to understand where she was coming from. He had more experience with dating and sex. Whereas, she only had him and nobody else to compare him to – at least when it came to sex.

"Dr. Kepner, incoming trauma is five minutes away," a nurse called out to April.

"Thank you. I'm on it." Walking around the nurses' station, she retrieved a trauma gown before waving at residents Leah Murphy and Shane Ross. "Murphy, Ross. Come with me."

Even though Jackson had no reason to be in the ER, he decided to follow the three surgeons outside hoping he would be needed for whatever trauma was coming to their hospital. As the ambulance arrived, April led her trauma team to the back and opened the doors.

Paramedic Nicole jumped out, pulling the gurney out from the rear. "Byron Thatcher, age 34. Construction worker fell four stories from a condominium project and hit several objects on the way down. He's got a possible dislocated left hip, fractured pelvis, chest and abdominal injuries. Patient is experiencing shortness of breath. Heart rate is 135 beats per minute, BP is currently 90 over 55."

April stood alongside the patient's gurney. "Mr. Thatcher, I'm Dr. Kepner. I know you're in an excruciating amount of pain, but we're here to take care of you, alright?" She looked at Shane. "Ross, have a nurse page cardio, general and ortho, then meet us in trauma room one."

Jackson scanned the man's injuries. None of them required a plastic surgeon, but he still wanted to help. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I've got this taken care of, but thanks," she answered as she ushered the gurney into the ER. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Nicole had a different partner with her. Normally, she worked with Matthew, but an unfamiliar man was in his place instead. After giving instructions to Leah, she walked back outside and approached the paramedic. "Nicole, where's Matthew? Is he off today?"

"He moved to Portland last week. I don't need to explain why," Nicole replied with a smirk.

"Oh. Umm… thank you for telling me," the trauma surgeon responded before she returned to the pit.

April couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for driving Matthew out of Seattle, but she didn't have any regrets breaking up with him. It was the right decision because she couldn't continue to make him believe that marrying him was what she wanted. She hadn't seen him since the storm, but she hoped they could have ended on better terms.

Joining her in the trauma room were Cristina, Callie, Ryan and Miranda Bailey. She explained to them Byron's injuries, then she grinned at her friend. "Lucky first day, huh?"

"I'll say," he answered, letting out a low whistle as he examined an x-ray scan of the fractured pelvis.

Leah handed Cristina another set of x-rays. "Lodox scan shows fractures to the fourth, fifth and sixth ribs, one of which could be puncturing his left lung resulting in a pneumothorax."

"Ultrasound shows a ruptured spleen," Bailey informed them. "We need to get him into an OR now."

Watching his coworkers through the window, Jackson sighed as they filed out of the trauma room and towards the elevator. The selfish person inside hoped the case involved the man's face being ripped off, so he would have a reason to join April in the OR. Giving her the space she wanted was going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

Following the end of her shift, April yawned as she walked out of the hospital. Jet leg snuck up on her and she was ready to go home to her apartment, but at the same time, she craved a drink from Joe's. She needed one after all of the awkwardness she experienced with both Avery's.

"Hey, wait up!" Ryan caught up with her in the parking lot. He appeared just as exhausted, yet excited about completing his first day. "Do you mind giving me a ride home? I don't have a car yet and I haven't had the chance to study the bus routes."

"Sure, no problem. Actually, I was thinking about heading over to the bar across the street. I'm so tired, but all I want right now is a freaking drink," she answered and softly laughed. "Want to come? It's our go-to hangout after work, so you might as well familiarize yourself with Joe's."

"Sounds good to me," he agreed. As they walked through the parking lot, he stared at his friend curiously. "Are you gonna tell me about Jackson anytime soon? Or how about his weird mom? What'd she mean when she said you've been waiting too long? Are you a virgin or something?"

April playfully rolled her eyes. "You're still the same boy who asks too many questions at once. That's your version of rambling," she pointed out, then she sighed. "No, I'm not a virgin. I thought I could wait until I got married, but that didn't happen. Catherine doesn't know."

"That Jackson's the guy?" He watched her nod. "So, what happened?"

"It's a long and complicated story," she sheepishly replied. "You don't need to hear about the complexity that is Jackson Avery and I. Even I don't think I fully understand everything that happened between us."

Ryan smiled at her. "I know we haven't seen each other in years, but it's _me_. I grew up listening to all of the long stories you told me in Moline. I can handle long stories. You kind of trained me to tolerate them," he quipped, laughing when she gently shoved him with one arm. "And in exchange I'll share with you my own relationship woes."

"You have relationship woes?" April asked skeptically. "How can you have relationship woes? In middle school, you had like three girlfriends at one point. You were already this hot commodity."

"Well, it was easier as kids because they weren't ever serious and it was all fun. I married my girlfriend from high school, but we divorced four years ago. I was deemed too busy for her because of the long hours I worked at the hospital, so she left me," he admitted. "No kids, but I suppose that's a good thing."

"At least you've been married," she muttered, then she shook her head. "I'm sorry for sounding bitter. It must have been difficult for you when your ex-wife left you."

Ryan opened the door to Joe's and let her walk inside first before he followed suit. "Nah, it's alright. I've had time to accept it and move on." They sat beside each other at the bar. He ordered a beer, while she decided to go with scotch. "I expected you to go for an appletini or some other girly drink."

The redhead smirked at him. "I enjoy a glass of scotch every once in a while. Tonight, I need it."

"So, it's your turn. Jackson isn't just some guy you knew since residency. I can tell by the way he was staring at you this morning that you mean more to him than you're letting on."

"He's- _was_… he was my best friend," she glumly said before sipping her scotch. "We're not really friends right now. Things just got incredibly messy after I slept with him – at the boards last year. I lost my composure and failed, then Hunt fired me. I went home to Moline for a while before he gave me my job back. Jackson and I started sleeping together again after I miserably failed at revirginizing. I tried not to feel guilty, but in the back of my head I kept thinking God had this plan for me and premarital sex wasn't a part of that plan. Maybe I've been wrong all along because I was engaged to a man who wanted to wait until marriage, but… I realized he wasn't who I wanted to be with."

"Okay, so why not try to make things work with Jackson?"

"It's not that simple. He was seeing somebody else when I told him how I felt and he pushed me away," April recalled, clearing her throat as tears formed in her eyes. "He said some people weren't meant to be, referring to us. You don't just forget that, dump your girlfriend and pretend we can go back to the way things were. And _he_ dumped _me_! Okay, some of it was my fault, but that man made mistakes too. I told him to give me space. It's the least he could do until I can look at him without wanting to rip his eyes out."

Ryan half-smiled at April and tapped his beer bottle against her glass. "Try not to dwell on the past. Think about what you can do differently in the future, so you don't get caught up in crap like this again," he advised. "Maybe you'll still end up with Jackson, maybe you won't. Nothing can be fixed in a snap. And what he said about how some people weren't meant to be? That can't always be a bad thing. Before you know it, other guys could be lining up for you. Just something to think about."

Drying her eyes with the back of her hand, April returned the smile. Ryan was exactly what she needed – a friend who could offer her advice without the snide remarks. And she was thankful he wasn't a random man she just met at the bar. "I'm glad you're working here," she happily replied. "It's nice having my old best friend back."

* * *

**Like I said, it's not going to be an easy journey :P Anyway, let me know what you think please!**


	4. Mr Sexy Abs

**Thank you for the reviews! The reception for this fic has been awesome and I really appreciate your feedback :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Two weeks had passed and Jackson managed to maintain the boundaries between personal issues and professionalism with April. They only spoke to each other at the hospital when they were required to for medical reasons. Other than that, he had given her the space she requested. He hoped two weeks was enough time for her to ease away some of her anger towards him. The plastic surgeon found himself missing her more when they were in the same room together than when she was on vacation.

And it bothered him even more that she had been spending a lot of her spare time with Ryan. Every corner he turned, there she was, but so was he. The orthopedic surgeon was a nice guy and meant well whenever he was forced to interact with him, yet somehow, the blonde man felt like a threat to him. The way April conversed with her childhood best friend seemed natural, like how they used to be when she was his best friend…

…before they had sex and the complications that resulted afterwards.

A part of Jackson wished he could close his eyes and everything would be back to the way they were, friends who grew to become best friends after they lost their Mercy West companions in the shooting. However, that meant erasing their night in San Francisco and he didn't want that memory to disappear. Ever. Rebuilding their friendship was crucial. They weren't friends after all, according to the trauma surgeon. No half-assing, no rushed "I Love You". He wanted to prove to April that he truly loved her without having to say those three words as if it was an obligation to make her happy.

Romantic dates, flowers for no specific reason, simple gestures to show he cared for her. Good old fashioned romance. That was what she wanted aside from sex. The whole package was important.

The pretty eyed man entered the attendings locker room for another shift at Grey Sloan Memorial. To his delight, April was already inside changing into her scrubs. "Good morning, April," he politely greeted her as he walked to his cubby.

"Good morning, Jackson," she casually replied, her back facing him.

He looked back at her, a smile forming on his face. It was the first time in a while she had greeted him without the coldness or monotone voice. Maybe giving her space had worked. "Umm, how are you today?"

"Alright, I guess. You?"

"Pretty good. Definitely feeling good so far."

Jackson removed his jacket, followed by his t-shirt. Tossing both into his cubby, he couldn't help but sneak a peek of April. She hadn't worn her scrub top yet, so he caught a decent view of her in her tank top. He could spot her tan lines – more like burn lines – from her bikini. While he had never actually seen her in a bikini, he also knew she didn't tan. She burned. The redness had faded since she returned from the Bahamas and her skin was almost fully restored to the paleness he admired. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, showing off her neck. He could still remember the one spot that always drew a moan out of her. His eyes continued to scan every inch of her body until he felt an article of clothing smack the back of his head.

Standing nearby was Cristina, who had slapped him with her lab coat. "Pervert," she bluntly said.

"It's not perverted if I've already seen what's underneath those clothes," he whispered, glaring at his coworker.

"But you two haven't entirely been on great terms, so I disagree… _pervert_," the cardiothoracic surgeon teased, while she wore her lab coat. "And you look pathetic with your puppy dog eyes always staring at her. What happened to telling her how you feel?"

"I'm trying to do this carefully. I don't want to do something that'll overwhelm her," Jackson explained. "And she wanted space. I'm being a good person by respecting that, but she seems to be coming around now. I'll make my move soon."

Ryan entered the locker room, taking notice of Jackson from across the room. "Hey, man!" He grinned at the plastic surgeon as he walked to his cubby, which was close to April's.

"Hey… dude," he responded slowly, rolling his eyes when the blonde man's back was facing him. Dude was Karev's word, but Jackson figured moron or dumbshit was too harsh and inappropriate, especially with April in the room.

"April, do you know of any decent places to get some tacos?" Ryan asked his friend as he removed his jacket. He looked over his shoulder at Jackson. "Or how about you? Where can I find tacos?"

"Well, there's Taco Time," he suggested with a smirk. "They sell the best tacos in Seattle."

The trauma surgeon softly laughed, shaking her head. "He's joking. You _do not_ want to go there – unless, you're interested in two or three days of uncontrollable bowel movements," she quipped. "There's this taco truck that parks across the street on Monday's and Wednesday's. They make the best tacos, in my opinion. Why don't we get some for lunch later?"

Ryan nodded before he pulled his t-shirt over his head. "Sweet. Sounds good," he agreed, setting it aside in his cubby. He glanced back at Jackson. "You want to join us?"

After tying the strings of his scrub pants, Jackson turned towards his fellow surgeon to answer the question. What he hadn't expected to see was April's eyes clearly glued to Ryan's topless body. She had one foot on the bench while she simultaneously tied her shoe and stared at her friend's toned six pack abs. The pretty boy was appalled to see her checking him out and she even appeared to be impressed with what she saw.

As shallow as it was, he had opted to wear his scrub top last hoping April would observe his own rock hard abs before Ryan appeared. Unfortunately, she barely made eye contact with the plastics man since he arrived, so his gorgeous, athletic body hardly received any attention. Maybe she simply wanted to make comparisons, Jackson thought. Both men were about the same height and built similarly. And why wouldn't the red headed woman stare at either of them?

But Jackson couldn't help but believe April was staring at the wrong person. Gazing down at his own body, he wondered what Ryan had that he didn't. New guy was taking all of the glory that was once his. Bastard.

"Uhh, Avery. I asked if you wanted to have tacos with us for lunch," Ryan said, then he chuckled as Jackson quickly shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts. "You didn't hear me, did you?"

Cristina stood beside the plastic surgeon and playfully patted his shoulder. "I think he was too busy checking out his competition for this year's Mr. Sexy Abs title," she jokingly answered. "Apparently, Kepner's already judging the field too."

"Huh, what?" April's head shot up, her eyes wide open like she had been caught red-handed committing a crime. She nervously laughed as she slipped on her lab coat. "Well, I'm going to head downstairs to the pit. Text me when you're free for lunch."

"Okay," both men replied in unison, exchanging glances at each other afterwards.

Jackson sheepishly grinned. "That pretty much means I'll be joining you guys for tacos," he added. "You know I love me some tacos. Can't get enough of them… among other things."

April's eyes wandered sideways as she walked towards the exit. "Right."

Cristina was the next doctor to leave the locker room, but not without turning around and flashing an 'L' sign on her forehead with her hand at Jackson. She smugly grinned at him as he scowled back at her one last time. Catching up with April in the elevator, she placed her hands inside of her lab coat pockets and bounced back and forth on her heels.

"You've got a little bit of drool on your chin, Apes," she humorously said.

"I know what you're trying to say, but you're wrong," the redhead insisted. "He's just my friend. I can be friends with guys and not be attracted to them. And Ryan was like a brother to me when we were kids. He stood up for me at school when the other girls teased me for being a science nerd."

"Because staring at his abs like they were a juicy slab of steak didn't show any hints of attraction," Cristina sarcastically replied.

"I was… curious," April reluctantly stated. "Unisex locker room. It happens."

The Asian woman snickered. "Oh, please. I'm not sure where you stand now with the big G-O-D in the sky, but you're allowed to play the field after spending most of your life covering your eyes at the sight of a penis," she scoffed. The elevator doors opened to her floor and she stepped out. Turning around to face her coworker, she nonchalantly said, "Why not? I'm just saying. It's something for you to think about while you're praying or on the toilet. Whichever you prefer."

As the doors closed again, April tilted her head back and groaned. She knew she couldn't fool a person like Cristina Yang even if she managed to pull off the world's biggest lie with everyone else. Of course she was checking out Ryan. It was her first time seeing what was hiding underneath those clothes… well, the top half anyway. And regardless of what the cardiothoracic surgeon advised, she was not going to sleep around. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about premarital sex anymore. While she was with Matthew, she fought her urges to "corrupt" him. Lying to herself was pointless. She missed sex, but that didn't mean she would jump into bed with anybody who found her attractive.

And what if Ryan didn't see her as more than a friend? When they grew up together in Moline she had developed a crush on him, but so did almost every girl in their class. She was shy and awkward. In some ways, that young girl still existed inside, but her confidence was better now than it was then.

They were still reestablishing their friendship, but she was comfortable around him. No tension between them whatsoever. The same still couldn't be said when it came to Jackson, though.

* * *

Stephanie Edwards walked into the ER determined to move on from her feelings for Jackson and focus on the medicine. She had spent too many hours and days sulking over their break up, but she blamed herself for not ending it with him sooner. The signs were there that he hadn't been all in. No phone calls for eleven straight days, forgetting plans. His mood was typically crappy for whatever reason. She understood he was a busy man. He was a freaking board member after all. Some of it was denial. The plastic surgeon was her dream guy. When he took an interest in her she couldn't help but take advantage of that.

But she had also promised herself that she wouldn't be _that_ girl, the one who slept with her boss and benefited from it. Leah called her out multiple times about being a hypocrite, yet she refused to listen to her and it came back to bite her in the ass. As soon as Jackson told her he was in love with someone else, it all made more sense to her. It hurt deeply because she had her chance to end things first, but she hadn't. She blamed his stupid, beautiful eyes and his kissable lips.

Whoever this woman was, Stephanie considered her to be one lucky person. She was relieved to be on another attending's service, free from Plastics. And she didn't mind being in the pit with April because she had been a helpful teacher. Tough, but kind. The trauma surgeon wasn't a dud like she initially thought. She knew how to run the show in the ER, which wasn't a cakewalk. Perhaps her calling was really in the emergency room.

She approached her superior and softly smiled at her. "Good morning, Dr. Kepner. Where do you need me at the moment?"

April handed the resident a small stack of clipboards. "Edwards, you can start with these people in the waiting room. If I need extra sets of hands for any upcoming trauma, I will page you. Anyway, if you desperately need me, you know where to find me, but I'm sure you've got this taken care of," she cheerfully answered. "Any questions?"

"Nope. I think I'm all set," Stephanie replied confidently before she left for the waiting room.

The redhead let out a sigh of relief, hoping her gleeful demeanor was convincing enough to show she didn't have any hard feelings towards Jackson's ex-girlfriend. Truthfully, she never did. She blamed herself for setting them up together for Bailey's wedding, though the two of them hitting it off immediately was unexpected. It didn't appear to her that Stephanie suspected that she may have been the reason for their break up. April had always been professional with her even after she learned of their relationship.

Because at the hospital, she was a doctor and teacher first. Holding a grudge would have been childish. Stephanie really hadn't done anything to her to warrant such treatment. She simply fell for the Avery charm like she had. In a way, she empathized with her. They were both dumped by Jackson. Not exactly something to be proud of.

While she checked the statuses of the current patients and updated the video board at the nurses' station, an unsurprising visitor stood in front of the counter. Without having to look up, April already knew who decided to pay her a visit. "Jackson, do you need something?" she inquired.

"I'm a little queasy," he murmured, placing his forearms on the counter and resting his chin on top of them. "Like, I feel sick."

"And by sick you mean what exactly?"

Jackson slightly frowned. "I just came from Webber's room and my mother informed me that she's extending her stay in Seattle," he complained. "She may even consider moving here permanently, so she won't have to worry about him suddenly keeling over and dying alone in his house."

"That's it?" she replied, raising her eyebrow at him. "Don't you feel sick every time your mother visits?"

"Yeah, but this is completely different. She might _move_ here, April. That basically means she'll be back to her old ways. She'll likely meddle again and she's already trying to suck personal information out of me like I'm hiding something from her."

"Are you?"

He shook his head. Telling her what he had been hiding from Catherine would also mean spilling the beans about his feelings for her. It wasn't the right moment. All he wanted to do was ignite a friendly conversation between them, which seemed to be working. "I don't know. I'm just tired of her constantly treating me like I need her."

"Has it occurred to you that she wants to move here because of _Webber_? His heart still isn't strong enough to leave the hospital. He shouldn't be living alone once he's out of here. Your mother obviously cares a lot about him, so she's doing what's best for the both of them," April rationalized. "No offense, but not everything has to be about you. I mean, I'm sure being closer to you makes her happy as well. And look at the bright side, maybe you'll have more time to cut people open because she's around to deal with the boring board stuff. Isn't being a surgeon what you really want to be?"

"Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself," the plastic surgeon complimented, half-smiling at her.

She glanced down at her tablet and slightly smiled. "I just know how to knock sense into you, that's all."

He decided to change the subject. "Umm… Ryan seems to be adjusting well here. How does he like it?"

"He loves it here. Torres is already letting him grow his own artificial cartilage in the lab and the other doctors have been welcoming towards him. I've been showing him around Seattle when we have free time. It's been fun." April looked back at Jackson and suggested, "I'm not the biggest sports person, so maybe you two and Karev could do some manly outing or whatever. He could use some more male friends."

Hang out with his biggest threat? That actually didn't sound like a bad idea in his mind. There was that saying – keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Plus, he was certain bonding with Ryan would earn him points from April. Trust was the most important thing and she was practically indirectly telling him how to gain back that trust he lost from her.

"I guess I could score some Sounders tickets for us," Jackson stated. "Do you want to come?"

"It's not really my thing. You should know that," she replied with a smirk. "How many games did I pass up since we met? The only way you're luring me to any sporting event is if Ohio State came to play U-Dub in football, but that won't be happening any time soon."

"Well, we could do something else together – as friends, of course. You know, since we're trying to be friends…"

"What do you have in mind?" she asked curiously.

He stood upright, pressing his palms against the countertop. Jackson tried to play it cool, but he had no idea what type of activity they could engage in without it crossing the line between friends and lovers. In the back of his mind, the word sex was blinking like one of those neon signs at a strip club. Being a gentleman was harder to accomplish than growing his own skin grafts.

"We could… take a walk. Green Lake Park is large and… we could walk and talk about anything you want," he awkwardly offered, forcing a smile. April blankly stared at him before she erupted in laughter. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"Take a walk? That's the best you could come up with?" she teased, covering her mouth to hide the grin on her face. "Jackson Avery doesn't take long walks at the freaking park. Jackson Avery woos women with his eyes and his perfect teeth. What you suggested is something I should be doing with my closest girlfriend – if I _had_ a girlfriend to take walks with. Unless, you're trying to be a girl now."

Although he should be offended that she wasn't taking him seriously, Jackson found himself laughing along with her because she was right. A walk around the park wouldn't last long. They would both grow bored within five minutes. Not to mention, the awkwardness between them still existed and it showed through his lame idea.

But he got her smiling, something he hadn't seen from her lately. April's dimple stood out like it always did whenever she laughed or smiled. And it was the first time since she returned from her vacation that she hadn't been annoyed with him. Maybe she was, but she at least took the time to listen to him rant about Catherine like she used to when they were just friends, which was typically followed by advice that made him feel stupid for ranting in the first place.

That was why he needed her in his life, to set him straight whenever he acted irrational. Nobody else understood him the way April Kepner did.

Their moment was interrupted by Stephanie, who cleared her throat as she stood a foot away from Jackson. She could feel the plastic surgeon's eyes on her, but she refused to give him any of her attention. "Dr. Kepner, Mrs. Carlton in bed four had been experiencing nausea and a fever prior to arriving in the ER, but now she has pain and tenderness in her lower right abdomen. I performed an ultrasound and it appears her appendix could rupture at any time now."

"Okay. Let's get her admitted and _you_ will be taking out that angry appendix in the OR," the trauma surgeon instructed, much to the delight of her resident.

"Really?" Stephanie grinned. It was her first solo surgery in her young career. With Jackson, she had spent the majority of her time holding the suctioning instrument or watching him fix his patients. Not a lot of hands on experience because plastic surgery was all about perfection. Nobody in Plastics wanted an intern or first year resident touching their patient. "I'll be the one cutting? Like seriously, all me?"

April pushed herself up from her chair. "Well, if you don't want it-"

"Oh, I want it," she immediately insisted. "I discovered the appy, so I definitely want this surgery."

"Great. How about we go ahead and meet your patient? And also to ensure her appendix hasn't ruptured on us yet."

Jackson suddenly became invisible again as April and Stephanie walked away from the nurses' station to tend to a patient. Despite being told to stop with the creepy staring, he couldn't help himself. A minute ago, the two attendings were laughing and smiling like old times. He believed they were headed towards the right direction. Leaning back against the counter, he slipped his hands inside of his lab coat pockets while he continued to stare at April, who was introducing herself to the patient.

Beside her was Stephanie, who took a quick glimpse of her ex-boyfriend. Initially, she was caught off-guard by his gaze, but she speculated whether or not he was having second thoughts about them. However, she realized his eyes weren't on her but on April. It was then she connected the dots as her eyes slowly shifted towards her boss.

_April_ was the woman, the one Jackson was in love with. So much for assuming he dumped her for the other woman who destroyed their relationship. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that _she_ was the other woman the entire time.

* * *

Jackson checked his watch and wondered where April could be. He was already waiting for her across the street from the hospital where a taco truck was parked next to the sidewalk. She had sent him a text message to let him know she had just scrubbed out of Stephanie's appendectomy, but twenty minutes had passed and she was nowhere to be found. Instead, he spotted Ryan crossing the street alone in his navy blue scrubs. He was anticipating the orthopedic surgeon to greet him with his irritating catchphrase. It was never _Hey, Jackson_ or _Hey, Dr. Avery_. It was always…

"Hey, man!" Ryan raised his hand as if he wanted to exchange some handshake with Jackson, who only stared at him uninterested. The blonde man lowered his hand, pursing his lips at the same time. He was aware that his coworker had trouble warming up to him, but he was going to make an effort in becoming friends with him. "Did you order yet?"

"No. I was waiting for you and April. Is she coming?"

"She had to bail at the last minute. Hunt paged her to come down to the pit, so she asked me to order her lunch," he answered, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "April sent me her order on a text message-"

"Three small lime chicken soft tacos with extra tomatoes, just a pinch of jack cheese and sour cream and green salsa on the side," Jackson recited, smugly grinning at Ryan. Unlike his acquaintance, a text message wasn't required to memorize April's preferences.

"Huh, you even got the pinch of cheese part down. Impressive," he complimented. Standing behind a couple of customers in line, Ryan reached into his pocket for his wallet. "What do you want, Avery? Lunch is on me."

The pretty boy waved his hand. "No, it's fine. I've got this one."

"I insist, man. Don't worry about it."

When it was their turn Jackson stepped in front of Ryan, so he could place their orders first. He would have hip checked the guy if it was necessary. His competitive side took over mainly because he wanted to show April how much he cared for her, starting with buying her lunch. Like hell he was going to let her attractive male friend outshine him. "What do you want, Abbott?" he asked, looking back at his coworker.

"Uhh, I guess I'll have whatever you're having," Ryan replied with a shoulder shrug. As Jackson reached into his pocket for his wallet, he lightly nudged him with his elbow. "Hey, April managed to catch up with us."

"She did?" Jackson turned his head to find April, which allowed Ryan to push him aside with his shoulder. Before he could retaliate, the blonde handed cash to the worker and paid for their lunches. "What the hell was that for?"

He smirked at the agitated doctor as they moved over to the waiting area. "When somebody offers to pay for your lunch you accept that. Who passes up a free lunch?" Ignoring the scowl on Jackson's face, he chuckled. "Seriously, who does that? Oh, and sorry if I hurt you, man. I wasn't going down without a fight. It's the hockey player in me."

The plastic surgeon rubbed his left shoulder. "That was my bad shoulder, bro."

"Oh? Old sports injury?"

"Evading an exploding bus," he muttered. "Wasn't too long ago either, so it's still a little tender."

Ryan had heard about the crazy storm that hit Seattle two weeks before he arrived. He didn't know all of the details aside from what happened to Webber and the bus crash. April's recollection about that night was fairly vague and when he asked Callie about it she was more tightlipped than his hometown friend. Nobody had really opened up about the storm. He hadn't even met Meredith Grey yet. She was still away on maternity leave and recovering from her emergency surgery.

"Sorry again. I didn't know your shoulder was messed up," he apologized. "Damn. I was just trying to be a nice guy, pay for lunch and try to make another friend. Now I feel bad about shoving you. If I had known-"

"Forget it. It's not a big deal," Jackson dismissed. "But if you do that again, I won't hesitate to kick your ass."

Ryan chuckled, playfully slapping the board member's right shoulder. "I got it, man. At first, I thought you were serious, but I know you're just messing with me." He leaned close to him and winked. "For what it's worth, you don't want to mess with me either. I've knocked out teeth before playing hockey, so I know a thing or two about kicking someone's ass."

The truth was, Jackson wasn't even joking. He literally wanted to fight Ryan on the spot, but there were too many witnesses around. Plus, there was April to keep in mind. She was the lone reason why the blonde surgeon wasn't sporting a swollen eye already. There was no doubt in his mind that his coworker was a good person. He was smart, friendly, caring and handsome, which only made him an even bigger threat – because he was certainly a man April could fall for.

* * *

**I'm trying my best not to make one favorable over the other because that's no fun! Anyway, I'd really love to know what you think of this rivalry now :)**


	5. Highly Unfortunate Circumstances

**Thanks for the reviews, everybody! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jackson slammed his lunch tray on top of the cafeteria table, slightly startling Alex and Cristina in the process. He had been in a mood since that morning, but none of his colleagues had any idea what his problem was.

"What's up your ass today?" Alex questioned with a mouthful of food.

"My idiot neighbor above me flooded his bathroom and the water soaked through the ceiling into my apartment. I literally woke up to nasty sewage water dripping on my face this morning. Fucking disgusting," the agitated plastic surgeon explained. "My bedroom's messed up and parts of the living room and kitchen got hit too."

"Dude, that sucks. It's like the guy literally crapped on your face," he teasingly replied, sharing a chuckle with Cristina. Alex pursed his lips as his former roommate glared back at him. "But seriously, that freaking sucks. What's gonna happen now?"

Jackson sighed, poking at his lunch. "Well, my landlord's not charging me for any of this – and he shouldn't, but I have to temporarily move out until both apartments are renovated. I've been pissed off all day because I have to be out of my place by tonight and I sure as hell am not paying for a hotel." He snapped his fingers. "Let me move in for a while, Karev."

The pediatric surgeon immediately shook his head. "No."

"What do you mean no?" he retorted. "You've got plenty of space at your house. More people lived in that house when we were roommates than now. I'll even take the laundry room if I have to."

"Look, I've got Yang, Robbins and for the most part Jo staying there. I initially never even wanted roommates, but now I have two plus one girlfriend. I can't take in any more strays." Alex took a large bite out of his sandwich before he continued, "And it's like the freaking Heartbreak Hotel at my house. Robbins cries all night in her room and Yang's got her own problems after she and Hunt broke up for the thousandth time. Why don't you just stay at Webber's? He's got a bigger house with available rooms."

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows. "My _mother_ is there. I do not want to be that grown man who lives with his mother. I'll pass." He set his fork down and leaned back against his chair with his arms folded. "Maybe I'll just camp out in an on-call room until I can move back into my apartment."

"What about April?" Cristina suggested. "Stop friend zoning each other and shack up already."

It had been a little over a month since the storm hit Seattle. April no longer seemed to hold a grudge towards Jackson. They spoke often at the hospital, having friendly conversations like they used to when they were best friends. But some awkwardness between them remained. The trauma surgeon would pretend she needed to check on her patients whenever she sensed their conversation was headed towards the night of the storm. And he couldn't find the right words to say when he wanted to bring it up.

"She lives in a one-bedroom apartment," he reminded her.

"All the more reason to move in with her," the cardiothoracic surgeon casually responded. "Are you ever going to make a move or do I have to do it for you, Avery?"

"We're kind of in a good place right now. I think she's starting to trust me again, so I'll make my move when the timing's appropriate."

Alex snickered. "I wish I had your patience, dude. I hope the wait is worth it for ya."

* * *

"Jackson!"

Oh, how he loved that sound of that perky voice calling out his name. Jackson spun around on his heel in the hallway to see April approaching him from the opposite end. There was a time when he dreaded hearing her calling for him, back when they were sleeping together and she wouldn't let go of the guilt. But now, her voice was like a mating call to him… if only the mating part actually happened.

She stopped in front of him, staring at him worriedly. "I heard about your apartment. Cristina told me you have to move out. For how long?"

"Maybe a month or two. I'm not quite sure yet." His thoughts ran back to Cristina telling April about his apartment, which slightly concerned him. He hoped his coworker hadn't said anything else that would eventually make their conversation uncomfortable. "So, uhh… what exactly did Yang tell you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked her own question with a raised eyebrow.

Jackson nervously laughed as he scratched the back of his neck. "Well, did she say anything ridiculous I should know about or… did she mention to you any living situations that I might be interested in?"

April quickly furrowed her eyebrows, then she smirked at him. "No, she didn't. Although, she did tell me that Alex refuses to let you move into his house, but I have a better suggestion that I hope you'll consider," she implied, which drew a smile from the pretty boy.

Was she about to ask him what he hoped she would ask? Jackson felt optimistic until the redhead opened her mouth again.

"Ryan's been looking for a roommate and I thought you would be perfect for him," she chirped, clapping her hands together underneath her chin. She didn't seem to notice the blank expression on his face as she continued to explain her idea. "He lives in a two-bedroom apartment, but no roommate yet. Oh! And it's much closer to the hospital than your place, about ten minutes away. I haven't talked to him about this yet, but it's something you should consider."

After trying his hardest to find something wrong with Ryan, he hit a dead end. Jackson normally disliked people who were rude or tried to use him because of his family name. However, he made an exception with the orthopedic surgeon. He didn't like the blonde man because he was a cool guy. Why did he have to be so freaking nice?

But April's suggestion was tempting. It was by far more ideal than living in an on-call room. Plus, living with a fellow surgeon meant they hardly ever saw each other at home. And it was likely that the trauma surgeon would be making frequent visits to the apartment to hang out. Maybe the idea wasn't so bad after all.

"You think he'd be alright with that? I'm not looking to stay there for the long term, so rent could be an issue," Jackson addressed, then he flashed his charming smile at her. He thought he might as well try to work some of his Avery sparkle on April. "Unless, you can talk to him for me first. I would appreciate that."

"Jackson, I'm _not_ one of your interns," she scolded him and chuckled, poking his chest with her finger. "You can get away with using your flirty smile on them, but I'm immune to that."

"I gave it a shot," he coolly replied, shrugging his shoulders.

April playfully rolled her eyes. As undeniably gorgeous as Jackson was whenever he smiled at her that way, she refused to let her guard down and succumb to his advances. Being friends again made more sense to her at the moment. No drama or confusion. Having had enough drama in the past year, she wanted simple. The plastic surgeon was anything but simple, yet she couldn't completely shut him out of her life. But like she had previously told him, her whole life didn't revolve around him. There were plenty of reasons to stay in Seattle.

Her sisters thought she was crazy for turning down the likes of Stanford and Case Western Reserve. None of them worked in the medical field, but they knew enough to pester her about passing up hospitals that may have been better suited for her than Grey Sloan Memorial during their vacation. Libby wondered why she would want to continue working with people who gave her little respect. Kimmie insisted she was too hung up on Jackson, while Alice suggested that April was afraid of change after spending the past seven years living in the Emerald City.

_"You survived a shooting, getting fired twice, endured days and days of your coworkers disrespecting you and your supposed best friend shot you down. Why would you want to go back to all of that?" the eldest Kepner sister nagged. "Do you enjoy being everybody's punching bag?"_

The answer was easy – all of the crap she had gone through only made her a stronger person and she knew deep down those doctors who found amusement in teasing her considered her family. It took a while for them to warm up to her because she was one of those invaders from Mercy West, but they needed her just as much as she needed them. It was difficult rejecting those other hospitals, but not as difficult as considering leaving her second family behind. She just couldn't do it even when she was pissed at Jackson.

"Regardless of your cheesiness, I'll talk to Ryan for you, okay?" she assured him, gently squeezing his bicep. "When do you have to be moved out?"

"By tonight," he answered with a grimace.

April slowly nodded and softly smiled. "I'll see what I can do," she said as she walked past him.

"Hold on a second," Jackson called out, turning around as she did the same. "Do you want to get a drink at Joe's later? Maybe it's premature asking this now, but think of it as a thank you for helping me out with this whole living situation thing."

She bit her lower lip and sighed. "I can't. I'm sorry. I'm overseeing the ER tonight. Besides, don't you have to pack and move out of your apartment after work?"

He half-smiled at her, trying to hide his disappointment. Maybe she was telling him the truth this time and she had also been right about moving out of his place, but it was still discouraging for him. "Yeah. As usual, you make more sense than I do," he quipped. "Anyway, let me know what Ryan says."

"I will," she replied before turning back around and walking the opposite direction. She was relieved she had a reason to back out from drinks with Jackson because for once, she wasn't lying to him.

* * *

Ryan was assisting Callie in OR 2 for a double hip replacement procedure. It was a fairly long surgery that required attention to detail in order to avoid complications for the patient during the recovery process. His concentration was partially disrupted when he temporarily looked up at the observation gallery where April was seated. She quickly waved at him and he smiled behind his surgical mask. The exchange didn't go unnoticed by his boss.

"You and Kepner are a thing now?" she asked inquisitively.

"No, we're just friends," he softly chuckled. The blonde man quickly glanced up at April, then his eyes reverted back to Callie. "Why? Has she said anything about me to you?"

She shook her head and laughed to herself. "Oh, Abbott. You do not want to go there."

"Why not? She's my friend and… she's _hot_," he noted. "April's not seeing anyone. I'm also not some random guy she just met. We've been hanging out a lot lately. It's like old times when we were kids. How can I not be attracted to her? I mean, look at her. She's one beautiful woman. And what attending comes and watches a double hip replacement? I think she's into me too."

"Hmm… it's possible. Why don't you ask her yourself?" the Latina woman suggested, smirking behind her surgical mask. Her eyes darted towards the trauma surgeon, who was visibly blushing and pretending she couldn't hear their conversation. "Next time, don't talk so loud."

Ryan quietly cursed to himself, feeling embarrassed that April overheard what he had said about her. There was no realistic way to cover it up, but he also didn't want to. "Dr. Kepner, can you talk to me through the intercom, please?" he called out to her.

April stood up and pushed the intercom button. "How much longer are you two in here?"

"Maybe another hour or so. Did you need something?"

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you briefly. It's not _too_ important… or maybe it is, but I suppose I can wait. Unless, I'm paged by the ER, then maybe I should just ask you this now-"

"You're rambling, Kepner," Callie interrupted. "Just say you'll go out with him and you're free to go."

The redhead's eyes widened. "What? I-I I'm not here because I want to go out with Dr. Abbott- I mean, I do- umm… I'm here for a completely different reason th-that has nothing to do with dating," she stammered, biting her lower lip to shut herself up. Clearing her throat, she tried to keep her composure. "There was some nasty accident at Dr. Avery's apartment and he needs a place to stay for a while. He has to move out by tonight. I told him you were looking for a roommate, so do you think you could take him in?"

Ryan glanced up at April again. "Will you have dinner with me this Friday if I do?" he playfully asked.

She nervously laughed, pushing back strands of her hair behind her ear. "What if I say no?"

"You're not going to because I have plenty of embarrassing stories from our childhood that I can share with Dr. Torres," he nonchalantly replied while he focused on his patient. "Dr. Torres, when we were nine years old April was trying to move one of her father's cows into the family barn. She mistakenly thought it was best to push the cow from behind and Ms. Daisy pooped all over-"

"Okay!" the trauma surgeon panicked. "I will have dinner with you. Does this mean you're going to let Jackson live with you?"

"Indeed. I'll talk to him after we're done with this surgery," Ryan answered, proudly smiling to himself. "Wear something nice. I'll pick you up at seven. Is that good?"

"Yes, that's fine. I… uhh, I'll be on my way now and thank you for helping a friend," April shyly responded before leaving the gallery in a hurry.

The orthopedic surgeon snickered. "I was always going to agree to it. I figured I could get an extra bonus out of it," he boasted. Callie stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "What? She digs me. You heard how flustered she was when I asked her out."

"And you think asking her out _and _taking in her ex-boyfriend or whatever he was to her is the brightest idea?" Callie scoffed. She knew a thing or two about triangles and they never worked out. "Avery's gonna kick your ass, which is why I warned you not to go there with Kepner."

"I'm aware of their history. April explained to me what happened between them, so I'm not clueless. Avery doesn't intimidate me. She hasn't been with him for months and she's single. If he's not going to make any moves, then I will," Ryan declared. "In my opinion, it's all fair game. Nobody said she was off-limits."

Callie sighed knowing the situation would be a train wreck waiting to happen and she didn't want any part in it. On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel elated for April. Two gorgeous men going after her?

_Way to go, Kepner_, she thought. Ortho guy versus the plastics man. How could she go wrong with either?

She thought this would have been a neat bet to place against Mark Sloan. Her attending going up against his – thinking about it only made her miss her best friend even more. The two of them coaching their team members to win over the perky redhead's heart would have been entertaining. Jackson, though, had the upper hand. He hadn't straightforwardly told her how he felt about April, but she knew his feelings ran deep. Callie couldn't understand why he was stalling.

"Men are so stupid," she mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Ryan questioned curiously.

Callie shook her head, trying to fight back her smile even though her coworker wouldn't be able to see it. "Nothing. Talking to myself."

* * *

Opening the front door of his apartment, Ryan led Jackson inside. His temporary roommate dragged two large suitcases filled with clothes while carrying a duffel bag containing his shoes over his shoulder. He was relieved the orthopedic surgeon took him in, despite how awkward it was going to be living with him, but if it made April happy, then he was going to suck it up until he could return to his own home.

And Ryan was already a lot more generous than Alex in the short span he had known the man. The apartment was tidy and the walls were decorated with various sports memorabilia. He was as big of a sports nut as the plastic surgeon, but there was one detail Jackson noticed that he already hated with a passion.

"So, thanks again for letting me crash here for a while, but do you mind if I make one small suggestion?" he inquired, then he pointed at the Yale banner hanging on the wall above the flat screen TV. "That needs to go, at least until I move back into my apartment."

"No problem, man," the blonde man chuckled. He waved his arm as he walked towards a hallway. "Let me show you your room. Okay, so technically, there isn't a bed in there. I requested in my roommate ad that whoever moves in take care of their own bed, but since you're not staying here for that long you don't need to worry about that. I do have an inflatable mattress you can use if that's alright."

"Yeah, that's not a big deal. I spend more time at the hospital than at home anyway," Jackson insisted, setting his luggage on the floor of the barely furnished bedroom.

Ryan continued the short tour of his apartment. Each of them had a bathroom and he showed his coworker his own bedroom, which was filled with even more Yale décor. All he needed were Yale lamp shades, comforters and curtains and his bedroom would look like a page out of a college dorm catalog. The man clearly loved his Bulldogs. Hanging in a frame by his closet, there was a blue and white hockey jersey with Abbott and the number eight stitched on the back of it.

"I see you played hockey for Yale. I played football for Harvard," the plastic surgeon pointed out. He recalled Ryan's knock on his school being on the losing end of the series in their football rivalry and smugly grinned at him. "And for the record, Harvard won The Game all four years I was on the team. Not to mention, the Crimson's been owning your Bulldogs for six straight years. We'll even out the series in no time."

"Alright, you got me there, man," he graciously admitted and lightly slapped Jackson's chest with the back of his hand. "But hey, the ice hockey team at Yale won their first national title this year, so I'm more proud of that than our underachieving football team. Anyway, I'm thinking about walking down the block for some Chinese takeout. You cool with that?"

Jackson's stomach was softly growling after missing dinner due to another one of his boring board meetings. He was ready to eat just about anything at that point. And Ryan leaving the apartment for at least a half an hour was enough time for him to snoop around and see what he was up against. "Sure. Sounds good. I'm down for whatever you decide to order."

Ryan nodded as they walked back into the living room. "Sweet. I won't take long. There's plenty of beer in the fridge if you want get a head start on that. See you in a bit, man."

As soon as the blonde left and the front door closed behind him, Jackson didn't waste any time grabbing the Yale banner on the wall and taking it down. He neatly folded it before throwing it underneath the couch. After getting a cold beer from the refrigerator, he returned to Ryan's bedroom to innocently search for something incriminating about him. Something had to be wrong with him, he thought. Risqué photographs, a dead body in the closet, anything to assure him that this man didn't deserve April more than he did. Maybe he could plant a pair of panties in his drawer and claim they were the trauma surgeon's.

Nah. April would kill him.

Sifting through another person's belongings wasn't him, but Mr. Hey Man inadvertently struck a nerve with him every time they interacted. Jackson held on to a glimmer of hope that Ryan wasn't being completely honest about who he was. In the back of his mind, he knew he was acting a bit paranoid – or maybe too paranoid. April wasn't dating her childhood best friend, but then again, she wasn't dating him either.

On Ryan's desk were a few pictures. One of them appeared to be of his family, another of himself with friends from the Cleveland Clinic. The third one was a worn out Polaroid picture marked with the year 1994 and the words _I'll miss you forever!_ written on it. Jackson picked it up from the desk for a closer look. He automatically recognized April in the picture. She and Ryan were sitting side by side on the steps of a porch, probably taken at her home in Moline. He smiled at the oversized glasses she wore and her natural brown hair was fixed in pigtails.

Aside from Reed Adamson, he found amusement in the fact that the majority of April's best friends were male. He had heard about her best friends from high school and college – both men, yet she used to cover her eyes at the sight of a half-naked man.

He searched and searched, remembering to put everything back to where he got them from, but he found nothing. Maybe it was time to give him a chance and be friends with him. They seemed to have a lot in common sans the Ivy League affiliations. The "Hey, man" greeting still bugged the shit out of him, but he decided not to make a big deal about it. And he definitely needed more guy friends after he lost Mark and he would see less of Alex outside of work because he was linked to Jo.

Jackson gave up and retreated to the couch to watch TV while he waited for Ryan to return with their late night dinner. When the orthopedic surgeon came back they pounced on the various takeout boxes set out on the coffee table. They discussed various topics mostly pertaining to sports. They learned more about each other, specifically the basics.

Ryan moved to Detroit, Michigan – where his love for ice hockey developed – and lived there until he left for college. Studied at Yale for both undergrad and medical school. He chose to do his residency at the Cleveland Clinic because they had one of the top orthopedic programs in the nation.

"So did you and April keep in touch after you moved away?" Jackson asked, opening his third bottle of beer.

"We did. Wrote letters and stuff until we both got Internet, then we started e-mailing each other in high school," he recalled. "But my girlfriend turned wife turned ex-wife was the jealous type. She didn't like that I was talking to another girl, so she wanted me to cut ties with April. I really liked Bridget, so I listened to her. I hadn't heard from April at all until we met up at the airport in Chicago."

"And what happened with the ex?"

"I wasn't home enough for her _and_ she thought the reason why I spent so many hours at work was because I was cheating on her. We divorced four years ago. You know what I learned from all of this? Don't marry somebody who doesn't understand your job," Ryan advised, slightly smiling at Jackson. "This is why most of my friends in Cleveland fell for and married each other. At least you'll always see your spouse at work even if you're not home a lot. So, you've never been married?"

He shook his head while he sipped his beer. "I proposed to someone… sort of," he murmured, slouching on the couch and placing his legs on top of the coffee table. "It was a fail, but I wish I could've said and done things differently. Maybe we would've worked out then."

The other man noticed Jackson's eyelids were fighting to stay open. It was almost midnight and they were both exhausted, but he wanted to ask him one more question. "Look, I know you and April had a thing in the past. She didn't tell me every single detail, but from what I gathered you're not just a guy she had a fling with and got over easily," he started. "Anyway, she's my friend, an attractive one I'll add, so I asked her out to dinner. I hope you're alright with that. I mean, it's just dinner. That's cool, right?"

The pretty eyed man simply shrugged as he yawned. "Sure. Whatever," he muttered, his eyes closing shut.

Ryan adjusted his reclining chair, crossing his ankles together on the footrest as he rested his hands against the back of his head. "Thanks, man."

* * *

The following morning, Jackson opted to buy coffee for April and even bought her a blueberry muffin to show his gratitude for helping him find a place to stay. It also made up for not being able to buy her a drink at Joe's the previous night. Holding a cup of coffee in one hand and the muffin in the other, he approached the redhead at the nurses' station and set both items on the countertop in front of her.

"Since you did me a favor yesterday, I thought I'd bring you a mini breakfast," he happily greeted her.

April smiled as she picked up her coffee. "Just what I needed. Thank you, Jackson," she acknowledged, taking a sip before she spoke again. "Sounds like you and Ryan are getting along just fine. No whining texts from you last night."

He gently nudged her shoulder and laughed. "Honestly, he's cooler than I anticipated. With the exception of all of the Yale crap in his apartment, I think we can coexist without trying to kill each other."

"That's great!" she excitedly replied. "I'm also really glad you're okay with me going out to dinner with Ryan on Friday."

"Wait, what?" Jackson furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"He told me he asked you last night if you'd be alright with him taking me out. You said it was fine. I just thought it was sweet of him to talk to you about that because he knows… about what happened between us." She slightly grimaced as she tapped her fingers against her coffee cup. "You really are okay, right?"

Forcing himself to smile, he slowly nodded. "Yeah, it's completely fine with me. I mean, you and I aren't- we're still trying to be friends, so it's not a problem," he insisted. "Anyway, it's just dinner."

April let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. Like you said, it's just dinner," she stated, though she decided to hide the fact that she _was_ attracted to Ryan. And it was only one date… maybe a date. She didn't want to call it a date in front of Jackson. "Thanks for being understanding. I appreciate it."

"No problem," he murmured, his smile forming into a scowl after she walked away to tend to a patient.

Jackson vaguely remembered Ryan talking to him about April the previous night, but he was falling asleep when that question was brought up. He was positive his answer was half-assed and he likely didn't mean it. The orthopedic surgeon purposely waited until after a few beers were in his system.

_That sneaky bastard._

* * *

**Don't worry. Jackson will have his chance at revenge, but I may do a mini time jump for the next chapter ;)**


	6. Two Weeks Later

**Thanks for the reviews! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing Thursday night?" Jackson inquired as he followed April out of the attendings locker room. It was another typical morning at Grey Sloan Memorial. Two weeks had passed since she had dinner with Ryan, but the plastic surgeon hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary post-dinner, which was a good sign for him. "If you're not doing anything, want to go do something together?"

"Thursday, Thursday…" April mumbled to herself, pushing the elevator button. She shook her head and smiled at Jackson. "I'm not doing anything, but my shift doesn't end until after six. Is that okay?"

He grinned brightly at her. "That's completely fine with me. I get off around the same time. Do you want to check out a movie? I heard _The Heat_ was funny and you're a big Sandra Bullock fan, so how about it?"

"Speaking of Sandra Bullock, don't you think Murphy looks a little bit like her?" she asked with a chuckle. "In some angles, they look so much alike that the resemblance is uncanny."

"Uhh, sure," he awkwardly answered. "Anyway, about Thursday. Is it a date?"

The question caught April off-guard and she raised her eyebrow in response. Jackson cleared his throat, running his palm against the short bristles of his shaved head. "Well, not a _date_. What I meant was… we've got plans for Thursday night then?"

She softly smiled, nodding her head as the elevator doors opened. "Yeah, it's a… _plan_," she concurred. The trauma surgeon walked into the elevator with Jackson. "So, umm… Webber's retirement party is this Saturday, right?"

After spending over a month recovering in the hospital, the former Chief had been discharged and he also made the difficult decision to officially retire from medicine. Catherine decided to throw a retirement party at his home that weekend to celebrate his storied career and his recovery.

"It is. Are you coming?" Jackson questioned. He knew the answer, but he still wanted confirmation.

"Of course. He's Webber," she replied, playfully nudging him with her elbow. "I'll be there."

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor and more people occupied it, including Ryan. He stood in between the two Mercy Westers and greeted both with a smile. It was silent with the hum of the elevator being the only sound that could be heard until Jackson broke the silence.

"Where ya heading to?" he asked the orthopedic surgeon.

"Consult, downstairs in the pit. You?"

Jackson quickly pointed at the elevator doors opening when it arrived on the third floor. He let their peers exit first before stepping out. "Making sure new interns aren't screwing up morning rounds," he politely answered, turning around and walking backwards as he smiled at April. "Thursday night."

She shyly smiled at him. "Yes, Thursday night."

"Oh, and by the way, there's a nurse who's interested in you, Abbott. She really wants to have a drink or two with you, so let me know when you're free," he added, winking at his roommate. "Don't be a flake, _man_."

Ryan chuckled. "Uhh, sure. I'll think about it," he hesitantly responded as the elevator doors closed again, leaving him alone with the redhead. His eyes slowly wandered towards April and she immediately glanced back at him. In a split second, he cupped her cheeks and kissed her, pinning her against the wall.

Their dinner date turned out to be more enjoyable than she had anticipated, so they went out on another date… and then another. She initially wanted to resist his charm and handsome face because seeing him always reminded her of their childhood bond, but she couldn't fight it anymore. There were plenty of women in the hospital who stared at him and she knew exactly what they wanted from him. And being two single people who shared mutual attraction towards each other, as Cristina once said, why not?

So they decided to try dating without making it obvious around their coworkers. Out of April's circle of friends, the one person who deserved to know first was Jackson, but she couldn't find the right timing to tell him the truth. However, she didn't want to wait too long because keeping it a secret from him and everyone else was unbearable. She knew she was bound to crack, especially with Mama Avery constantly trying to pair her up with Ryan whenever they encountered each other in the hospital.

"Okay, okay. Wait," she breathlessly said, gently pushing the blonde man away before whispering, "You do know there's a camera in the elevator, right?"

"I know that, but it's just a little makeout session. We're not gonna have sex in here. We're not even having sex," he noted. Ryan leaned forward and planted kisses on April's neck. "What's happening on Thursday?"

"I'm just going to the movies with Jackson. You know, hanging out and stuff." April pushed Ryan away again and stared at him worriedly. "I have to tell him soon. Our friendship isn't exactly how it used to be, but I still care about him. I don't like hiding this from him."

"Then tell him already. I haven't been holding you back," he advised. "Is it because Avery lives with me at the moment? You'd warn me ahead of time if he's the violent type, right?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "He won't kick your ass, I promise. I'll tell him on Saturday at Webber's," the trauma surgeon declared. "And after he knows, then I don't care who finds out next. Jackson just has to be the first person to know."

"So this nurse he mentioned, you think I should go for it?" He sheepishly grinned after she furrowed her eyebrows at him. "What I meant was, should I go along with Avery's plan, so he doesn't suspect us until you tell him this weekend?"

April slowly shrugged her shoulders. "Depends which nurse he wants to pair you up with. There _are_ nurses here who wouldn't mind dating you." She forced herself to laugh. "Not that it bothers me. I mean, we're not serious. We just started dating, so you're free to test the waters if you want."

Ryan pressed his palms against the wall, trapping April in between his arms after the elevator arrived at the pit. "Is it just me or does it sound like you're already jealous over a nurse I haven't met yet?" he asked, smiling at the sight of her rosy cheeks. "Have you always been this insecure about yourself since we were kids?"

"I try not to be," she softly answered. "It's just I know there are women in this hospital who are prettier than me and probably less annoying-"

"See, that's your problem right there. You worry too much about how other people perceive you when you shouldn't." The orthopedic surgeon gently stroked April's cheek with his thumb. "You're going to the movies with Jackson on Thursday, so how about I meet this nurse on Friday? Then, we'll call it even. Nobody has to get jealous over each other's harmless dates after that."

"Are you jealous of Jackson?" she asked curiously.

Ryan laughed, leaning forward to kiss her lips again. "Why would I be jealous of a guy who broke your heart?" he dismissively replied, kissing her one more time. "Do we have a deal?"

April placed her hand on his chest and smiled back at him. "Yes, it's a deal." She gave him a firm kiss on the lips before she exited the elevator. "You don't want to keep your patient waiting, Dr. Abbott."

Following her out of the elevator, Ryan purposely trailed behind to avoid any possible suspicious coworkers. It also allowed him to get a clear view of a specific _asset _hidden underneath her lab coat.

"Stop looking at my ass," she ordered without looking back.

"How the hell do you do that?" he questioned in amusement. "You always know when I'm up to no good."

The trauma surgeon glanced over her shoulder at him. "Obviously, I still know you better than you thought," she cheerfully said. "Don't think I never caught you trying to peek under Libby's skirt at church socials. Once a perv, always a perv."

"Oh, so how's that different from you checking me out in the locker room every morning?" Ryan teased.

"Go check on your patient," April scolded him, turning away to hide her embarrassment. She quietly laughed to herself as she rushed towards the nurses' station.

Looking back at him once more, Ryan was already tending to a patient at one of the hospital beds. He could be obnoxious at times, but she found it charming at the same time. And he was a nice break from drama. She definitely needed that.

* * *

Alex sat down beside Jackson in the cafeteria, setting his tray on the table as he stared at the annoying looking smile on his face. "What are you so happy about?" he muttered. "Did you finally get laid again?"

"No, but I have a date with April on Thursday night," the plastics man proudly said, then he pursed his lips and slightly furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, sort of a date. I didn't want to make it sound like one, but I'm calling it a date because it's just the two of us."

"So what are you doing?"

"Going to the movies."

"What are you? Sixteen?" Alex scoffed, laughing as Jackson glared back at him. He stuffed his mouth with fries and shook his head. "Dude, why don't you just take her out to dinner? Nobody gets laid after watching a movie – unless you're planning to get laid _during_ the movie. You two are gonna be sitting there staring at a freaking screen instead of talking."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I don't want to rush things. That's what screwed us over the first time."

The pediatric surgeon snickered. "That's what you said last month. Face it, Avery. Your balls are so small you have no idea how to tell Kepner how you feel about her," he implied. "Trust me. I know what it's like to wait and have it bite you in the ass."

As irritated as he felt about Karev's honesty, Jackson knew he was right. He was waiting longer than he had planned, but he was confident his rekindling friendship with April was taking a turn for the better. Otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to hang out with him alone. And if all goes well Thursday night, he was going to make his move. By then, he hoped Mr. Hey Man would be out of the equation regardless of the plan he had in store for Ryan.

"I told Abbott I wanted to set him up with a nurse this Friday night," he said, changing the subject. "What do you think about Nurse Ashley?"

"Nurse Ashley? The same Nurse Ashley I'm thinking about from Peds?" Alex watched Jackson nod and smile innocently. He softly chuckled, holding up his fist. "That's awesome."

"I know, huh?" Jackson agreed, engaging in a quick fist bump with his friend. "I need him away from April, at least until she and I are back together. He's literally a cockblock, worse than Sloan when I was with Lexie."

Alex took a bite out of his sandwich before he responded, "Dude, Jo's been nagging me to work out more, so I'll have Abbott's physique. I don't know when or why she was watching him change, but she's totally enamored by his body or whatever. Hell, most of the female residents are. Does he freaking walk around the hospital shirtless when we're not around?" Lifting up his scrub top, he showed his coworker his bare torso. "I have a nice body, right?"

Jackson stared at him with a puzzled expression on his face. "I'm not sure if I'm comfortable answering that," he slowly replied. Spotting Ryan in the cafeteria, he smugly grinned when his roommate walked towards their table. "And the man of the hour is here. What's up, Abbott? Make a decision about the nurse yet?"

"Sure. It wouldn't hurt to meet more people," the orthopedic surgeon approved. "You said Friday night?"

"Yes. I'll set it up for nine o'clock at Joe's. Cool?"

"That's perfect, man," Ryan replied, fidgeting with the banana and water bottle in his hands. "Anyway, I have to meet up with Torres in the lab, so I'll catch up with you guys later."

Alex waited until their coworker was a decent distance away before he blurted out, "Dickwad." He shrugged his shoulders when Jackson smirked at him. "What? Look, I don't hate the guy. He's actually pretty cool, but my own freaking girlfriend drools over him more than she does with me, so I gotta despise him a little bit."

Smiling to himself, Jackson was glad to have Alex on his side even if he didn't loathe Ryan as much as he did. "Thanks for having my back, Karev."

"Whatever. Grow back your balls," he bluntly replied.

* * *

Walking out of the movie theater, April couldn't contain her laughter as she recalled her favorite scene from _The Heat_. Truthfully, Jackson hadn't paid much attention to half of the film. He spent that time watching the redhead beside him let out her infectious, high-pitched chuckles after almost every joke said by one of the actors. Listening to her laugh nonstop easily became one of his favorite characteristics about her. It brought out the single dimple on her face and he thought she was so cute when her cheeks turned red from laughing so hard. Even in a dark theater he could see her rosy cheeks.

They had driven their own cars to the movie theater, but Jackson offered to buy their tickets. April decided to return the favor by paying for their snacks, despite his protests. He had to remind himself that it wasn't supposed to be a date, so she was doing the non-date gesture by splitting the costs with him. It bothered him to see her hand resting on the armrest beside him. All he wanted to do was hold her hand, but the friend zone was still in play.

"So, you're headed home now?" he asked, slipping his hands inside of his pockets.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm pretty tired. I think I exhausted myself from laughing so much during the movie," she sheepishly replied, sharing a laugh with Jackson. "I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Did you like it?"

He quickly shrugged and grinned at her. "I appreciated all of the Boston Celtics memorabilia in the background of some scenes."

"Of course you would," she teased. They decided to sit down on a nearby bench before walking to their cars. April was curious to know how Jackson felt about Ryan as a person in general. "So, how's living with Ryan been? Have you two been getting along?"

"Aside from his Yale decorated bedroom, we're good. We give each other space when we want it and we kind of just hang out on the couch watching sports when we're lazy," he admitted. Jackson internally felt sick complimenting Ryan even though it was the truth. "He's not a bad roommate. Way cleaner than Karev ever was for sure."

April nervously picked at the loose string on her coat. "Would you… would you consider living with him permanently even after your apartment is fixed?" she asked inquisitively. "I mean, he does live closer to the hospital, so it would be convenient and Ryan doesn't mind having you as his roommate."

"He did agree to meet the nurse I set him up with. He's single and I thought I could help him out, you know?"

"Yeah…" she murmured. "Which nurse did you pick for him?"

"This nurse from Peds. I think she'd be perfect for him," Jackson answered, then he softly smiled at April. "It's premature of me to assume they'll hit it off, but don't you ever get that vibe when you're with certain people? Like some magnetic force constantly pulls you towards somebody no matter how hard you fight it?"

The trauma surgeon stared at her shoes and sighed. "Yes. It's frustrating, isn't it? Especially when one person's feelings aren't the same as the other's," she glumly responded. Glancing back at Jackson, he opened his mouth to speak, but he remained speechless. "Matthew loved me, but the feeling wasn't mutual."

He shifted uncomfortably, clearing his throat. "Oh. I can see how that complicates things. Umm, Stephanie wanted to step it up a notch, become a more serious couple, but I wasn't ready," he lied. Somewhere, Alex was likely rolling his eyes at how pathetic he sounded. "I'm not sure I truly felt anything when I was with her. That sounds awful because there was attraction for sure. I just don't think feelings were involved from my side."

"She gave you what you thought you wanted at the time. I understand."

"What do you mean by that?"

April softly laughed to herself. "C'mon, Jackson. It's not difficult to figure out. Let's say you're snowboarding and you have to choose between the bunny slope and the expert slope. The bunny slope doesn't carry any danger and you know you'll survive that run. But the expert slope is exciting and dangerous at the same time. You're not sure what to expect, but-"

"Just get to the point," the plastic surgeon interrupted, folding his arms in frustration.

"I carry too much baggage for you to deal with," she stated. "And you know, it's okay. I had a very long and eye opening conversation with my sisters during my vacation. Not everything works out the way you want them to and I've accepted that. I forgive you for rejecting me."

Jackson was completely caught off-guard by April's comments. He instantly felt guilty that she thought he pushed her away because he refused to put up with her neurotic behavior, her never ending rambling and everything else that made her intolerable to most people. She seemed to fully blame herself for what had gone wrong when he knew he had his share of flaws as well.

"April-"

"I should go home. I have to be up at five in the morning for work," she immediately intervened, standing up and reaching for her car keys inside of her purse. April smiled at Jackson, who remained seated. "Let's hang out again soon, okay? I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

After she left him alone, Jackson stayed glued to the bench with his arms spread out and resting against the top of it. Their fun, laid back night had suddenly taken an awkward turn for the both of them. "What the hell just happened?"

April wasn't pissed at him, but she hadn't given him encouraging vibes either.

* * *

"Dude, it's past nine. I think he flaked," Alex insisted and sipped his beer.

"No, he's coming. There were some complications he had to take care of with one of his post-ops, so he's running late," Jackson explained while he scanned the bar for his roommate.

The following night, he and Alex decided to hang out a Joe's to share a pint and entertain themselves by watching Ryan's date with the nurse he had been set up with. Little did the orthopedic surgeon know, Jackson hadn't been entirely honest with him about who his blind date was. And after the abrupt ending to his night with April, he needed to cheer himself up.

Five minutes later, Ryan arrived at the bar searching for his date. All Jackson had told him was Nurse Ashley would recognize him immediately because he provided a detailed description of his roommate. Both Jackson and Alex partially hid their faces by throwing their hoods over their heads as they observed from the farthest corner of the bar.

"Yoo-hoo! Dr. Abbott, over here!"

The blonde surgeon heard a masculine voice call out his name. He raised both of his eyebrows when he noticed a man dressed up for a date waving at him. Slowly approaching his table, he forced himself to smile. "Do I know you?"

"Hello? It's me, Nurse Ashley. Dr. Avery set us up, remember?" He playfully giggled, grabbing his hand. "You are much more handsome and macho in person. How about we start off by buying me a drink? I'll take a mojito, please."

Ryan wasn't one to blow people off easily, but after realizing he had been duped, he preferred searching for Jackson and kicking his ass. Nurse Ashley seemed like a nice person. However, he was led to believe his date played for his team, which obviously wasn't the case.

"Uhh, I will be right back with your drink," he politely excused himself, walking to the bar.

Jackson and Alex were hunched over laughing at their table. Ryan appeared dumbfounded as he bought Nurse Ashley his drink. For the plastic surgeon, he felt satisfaction in his foe's embarrassment. If his rival wasn't going to play nice with him, then he wasn't either. A little competition never hurt in his mind.

* * *

The scene felt surreal. A banner that said, "Happy days are here at last. The days of 9 to 5 are past" in elegant cursive letters hung in Richard Webber's living room. Although, he wasn't the Chief of Surgery anymore, everyone continued to call him the Chief. It just came natural to his Grey Sloan Memorial family. While the surgeons had expected him to announce his retirement, many of them were still gutted by the news, especially Miranda Bailey. They had built a connection since she was an intern. He was like a second father to her. It hadn't completely hit her that she wouldn't see him in the hallways of the hospital every day anymore.

Mama Avery wandered through the living room, checking on guests and stopping by the couch to gush at Bailey Shepherd. Meredith remained on maternity leave, but she refused to miss Webber's retirement party.

"Oh, look at this precious angel," the urologist cooed at the latest addition to the surgical family. She waved at Jackson, who was standing nearby mingling with his coworkers. "Baby, you see this little boo? When are you going to hop on this train?"

Her son pursed his lips, forcing himself to smile. "What was that, Mom? I couldn't quite hear you," he sarcastically replied.

Before she could repeat herself or drag him towards Little Shepherd, Jackson swiftly escaped the living room and hid in the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator to grab a beer until he remembered there wasn't any alcohol in the Webber household. When he closed the door he slightly jumped back at the sight of April standing in front of him.

"Holy crap, don't do that again," he gasped, placing his hand on his chest. "What's with the stealthy entrance?"

April sheepishly grinned at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," she apologized, pointing back at the kitchen door. "I saw you walk in here and I thought we could talk alone. Can we talk, please?"

Jackson leaned back against the kitchen counter and loosened his tie. After Thursday night's awkwardness, they hadn't interacted as much, but he agreed that they needed to talk. "Yeah. First of all, I didn't mean for things to be uncomfortable on Thursday. Actually, I'm still trying to process what happened."

"I think we were being honest with each other."

"I wouldn't say that exactly," he responded, grimacing at her. "I haven't been completely honest with you, April."

"Like about Ryan's date with a male nurse?" She folded her arms, raising her eyebrow at him. "Why would you do that? I mean, he was a good sport about it and let the guy know he wasn't interested, but that was cruel – for the both of them. He's been nice to you since you two met. What do you have against him?"

He shook his head in disgust. "Nice? Like how he purposely waited for me to be drunk to ask me if I'd be okay with you going out with him? If he was such a nice person, he would have faced me like a man and asked me when I was sober. He's not only a douche but he's a coward too."

"We're dating, Jackson," April blurted out. His face dropped in response and she frowned. "It's only been a couple of weeks, but I'm dating Ryan. I wanted to tell you first before anybody else found out. It's just like when you told me about Stephanie. You shouldn't have to hear it from someone else. That's fair, right?"

Jackson's stomach felt like it was in knots. All of his efforts to win her over had been pointless because she had been sneaking around with the enemy the whole time. "Are you sleeping with him?"

"Excuse me?" she retorted. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, I'm not sleeping with him. And why do you care if I was? You didn't see me asking about your daily sexcapades with Stephanie. It wasn't my business to know."

"Fine, I'll admit it. I don't like Ryan. He's fake, a liar and he went to Yale," he confessed, eliciting an eye roll from the redhead at the last part of his comment. "And I don't trust him with you. He may have been your best friend growing up, but people change and you know very well that I know you the best."

"Oh, okay. If that's the case, then you wouldn't have bothered asking me if I was sleeping with Ryan." She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Listen, I don't know what will happen between us, but I like him. If you're going to act immature about this, then I don't know how we can be friends. Either grow up or leave me alone."

Jackson bit his lower lip, avoiding eye contact with April as she left the kitchen. Now he desperately needed a beer.

* * *

Fortunate to have snuck out of Webber's house unnoticed, Jackson drove back to Ryan's apartment. He had grabbed a case of beer out of the refrigerator and locked himself in his bedroom to sulk. Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" blasted from his iTunes playlist as he lay flat on his back on the inflatable mattress. Three empty bottles rested beside him and he reached for a fourth unopened bottle.

Initially, he was pissed at April for not telling him about Ryan sooner, but he eventually grew upset at himself for acting like a horribly jealous douche to her. Their friendship had been steadily becoming better as each day passed and he was certain he sent them back to square one. She was aware of the fact that he loathed her new boyfriend, who would soon find out his true feelings about him. His apartment wasn't ready yet, so he needed to search for another place to stay until then.

_How the hell am I gonna get myself out of this one?_

He didn't trust Ryan, but the woman he loved likely didn't trust _him_ anymore. A lot of self-blame hovered over him like a single rain cloud that followed him everywhere.

_Why couldn't I have just said it sooner, that I love her?_

Everything was a mess again. He had his chances to forgive April and start over with her, but he thought taking it slow would work to his advantage. And he felt like a total idiot for not stepping up when he should have.

_Why doesn't life have a rewind button?_

He absolutely would have done things differently with her if he knew their dysfunctional relationship would lead to this. Staring at the ceiling, the song ended and the sounds of a faint pop and air wheezing out from underneath him caused him to groan. The inflatable mattress started deflating and he pounded his fist against the floor when all of the air was out. Even Ryan's furniture had turned against him.

_Great. Now I owe the bastard a new mattress._

* * *

**I know you want your Japril, but remember good things come to those who wait ;)**


	7. Forgive or Forget

**As always, thanks for the reviews! Even if you're not happy with the story right now, I appreciate those who have been respectful with their comments :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Callie was seated behind a microscope checking the progress of her newest set of artificial cartilage. The lab was her safe haven when she needed to be alone, especially after one of her many run-ins with Arizona. Just what she needed, some peace and quiet. But the heavy breathing and loud sighing began to disrupt her concentration.

"Avery, if you're going to mope in here, you need to shut up. I'm trying to work," she scolded the plastic surgeon.

With his forehead laying flat on the table, Jackson slowly lifted his head to look at Callie. Another week had passed since he learned of April and Ryan's relationship, but he had been avoiding them as much as possible. Some of it was jealousy, but he also felt like an ass for reacting like a jerk to her when she told him the truth. He didn't think he deserved to be her friend if he refused to support her. And he had also been beating himself up over waiting too long.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "But you understand where I'm coming from, right?"

"I suppose. I mean, April never cheated on you and ruined your marriage," Callie bitterly replied. She set the microscope aside to get a clear view of Jackson's distraught face. "I'm going to be completely honest with you. This Mopey Dopey look you've been showing around work is pathetic. Patients aren't going to trust you if you show up in their rooms looking like you're preparing to give them a death sentence."

He placed his elbows on top of the table and pressed his hands against his cheeks. "I still know how to work the Avery Sparkle on my patients. No problem," he unenthusiastically said.

She slowly nodded her head. "Because that sounded so convincing," the orthopedic surgeon sarcastically said. "And I heard you've been sleeping in on-call rooms lately."

Jackson decided to move out of Ryan's apartment as quickly as possible, though his place wasn't ready to move back into yet. He had done it the same day he found out about the couple, bringing all of his belongings to the hospital before sneaking back into Webber's retirement party. As for the inflatable mattress he popped – nothing electrical tape couldn't fix. And he figured he could only get away with it because the mattress was also black.

"It's only temporary until my apartment is finally finished."

"This is last minute, but consider it a generous offer. What do you think about living in Mark's apartment?" Callie inquired. The pretty boy's eyes slightly grew wider in response. "Listen, the apartment's under my name, but I haven't been able to trust just anybody to move in next door. I do think Mark would want you to have it, though."

"I don't know…" he answered with a grimace. "Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice place, but-"

"No, don't give me any but excuses," she interrupted, waving her finger at him. "And don't even bother going into expenses with me. You own the hospital, you're the leader of the board and you're an Avery. You can at least afford the rent."

Jackson sighed, running his hand across the back of his head. The apartment complex was only five minutes away from the hospital and the best part of it all? No Ryan Abbott. No morning greeting that consisted of, "Hey, man!"

Then again, he suspected the blonde doctor finally realized he wasn't well liked by him.

"So, if I agree to move in, the place is mine?"

Callie nodded. "Yes, and you can keep the furniture as well. I didn't have the heart to give any of it away, so his apartment is just the way he left it," she answered and softly chuckled. "And it's not haunted. Ghost Mark doesn't roam around in the middle of the night. Trust me."

"That's a relief. Otherwise, he would be nagging me all night about why I let April date that douche," he quipped. Jackson ignored the scowl on Callie's face. "Whatever, I get it. Abbott's your guy, but Sloan was mine. He'd side with me and you know it."

"But he would also be giving you a ton of crap for wimping out with Kepner," she noted. "If you want my advice, you should talk to her again. You want her in your life? You gotta stop pretending she doesn't exist to you."

"Fine, but you have to do the same with Robbins." He smirked at her when she rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Torres. Arizona is not a horrible person. She did a horrible thing, yes, but she is still that woman you married – before the plane crash and before she lost the leg."

Callie dismissively waved her hand. "Alright, we are _not_ turning this into an exes therapy session."

"Well, get used to seeing me around more, neighbor," Jackson smugly replied. "When can I have the keys?"

"Come over with your stuff after work. We can handle the paperwork then," she answered, then she slyly grinned at him. "There _is_ a catch, though. One that comes with the apartment."

He softly groaned. "If it's about talking to April again-"

"No, this is entirely different. Because we'll be living next to each other, you are my first choice to babysit Sofia when I need somebody to watch her. Deal?" she offered.

Deep down, Jackson wanted to reject his coworker's offer. He was definitely not a babysitter. While he didn't hate children, babysitting was not a part of his expertise. That was April's. Now when he thought about it, maybe it wouldn't be an awful idea. He could easily coax her into helping him. How could she turn down little Sofia?

And dammit, the apartment was too nice to pass up.

"You have yourself a deal," the plastics man agreed, extending out his hand. He and Callie exchanged a handshake, then he got up from his seat and headed for the exit. "Thanks, Torres. I'll see you later."

"You're welcome, neighbor."

* * *

"Didn't I tell you or didn't I tell you?" Catherine gloated to April while they chatted by the nurses' station in the ER. She couldn't be prouder of herself for indirectly pairing the trauma surgeon with Ryan and she let it be known… for an entire week.

April, on the other hand, wasn't the arrogant type. She smiled and nodded to everything Mama Avery had to say, but it didn't mean she necessarily enjoyed listening to her brag about a relationship that resulted in another falling out with Jackson. If she knew her baby boy was unhappy about it, the tables would turn in an instant. Now, there was no way she could tell Catherine what had happened between them last year.

She already felt torn between the two men. While she wanted to date Ryan, she also wanted Jackson's friendship. However, the latter refused to talk to her and she practically had to lie to Catherine whenever she tried to interrogate her about how he was doing. And since she had promised Jackson not to butt her way into his personal life, using April to find out about her son was the next best option.

"Okay, so tell me," Catherine started, leaning closer to the redhead and whispering, "How is he?"

"He's good. Umm… I think he's in the middle of a surgery at the moment," April politely replied.

The older woman waved her hand and laughed boisterously. "No, sweetie. Don't act like you have no idea what I'm referring to," she teasingly said. It took a few seconds for April to comprehend what Catherine meant and her eyes widened when she finally understood. "Yes, baby. Don't tell me you two aren't doing the horizontal tango. A fine piece of man like him? Mmm, girl. You need to get on that, dear."

"Dr. Avery," she timidly gasped, biting down on her lower lip as her eyes gazed down at the floor. Her cheeks felt warmer by the second. "N-no. We are not at that level at all."

"Honey, how much longer are you going to wait to have sex? Are you looking to become the female version of the 40-year old virgin? You really don't want to become that person," Catherine advised and placed her hand on her hip. "If you want, I can provide you with instructional videos on how to have amazing sex. There are some helpful books as well."

April forced herself to laugh. "That's not necessary."

"What about sex therapy?" she suggested. "I hope you know you're not the only woman at your age to remain a virgin, but since I don't know those other women their reasons for waiting don't matter to me."

The more Mama Avery nagged her about her nonexistent virginity, the closer she was to blabbing out her secret. Maybe it was best if she finally confessed, April thought. Catherine's behavior was sometimes borderline nuts, so it was possible she would be jubilant to hear that Jackson cashed in her V-card last year in San Francisco. But she also feared the worst case scenario. His mother could start barraging her with questions about that night or even worse, she would want to know why they weren't dating.

Keeping her mouth shut was the best option in her mind. There was no need to bring up their drama-filled history at the moment. Despite the awkwardness that had resurfaced between them, she was relieved to see Jackson approaching them. His presence would put an end to the uncomfortable conversation with his mother.

"Oh, isn't my baby boy so sweet? Coming down here to pick me up for lunch like a gentleman should," Catherine gushed and planted a firm kiss against Jackson's cheek.

"You told me to come get you," he mumbled, briefly making eye contact with April. He wanted to talk to her, just not with his nosy mother standing beside them. "Are you ready, Mom?"

"Yes. I was simply trying to pass the time with Dr. Kepner here," she answered, then she smirked at the trauma surgeon. "Poor girl is still wound up after all this time. You need to convince her that sex is a wonderful experience."

Jackson closed his eyes and groaned. "Here we go," he muttered, placing his hand over his face. "I thought you stopped meddling with other people's lives."

"You told me to stop meddling with _your_ life and I've kept that promise." Catherine gestured her hand towards a very embarrassed April. "Your dear friend needs some help, so I'm offering her advice on how to loosen herself up."

"I'm not sure you're doing much helping at the moment. In fact, I actually need to talk to April – _alone_," he firmly insisted. "Please, Mom. Just give us a few minutes and we'll have lunch afterwards."

April let out a sigh of relief after Catherine quietly left them alone. She rested her forearms against the countertop and placed her forehead on top of them. "Thank you," she softly moaned. "For a moment, I was beginning to think she was offering to become my pimp."

Jackson slightly smiled and gently patted her lower back. "Was it that bad?" Her head bobbed up and down, then he chuckled. "It could've been worse. I bet she would be spewing out tips to Ryan if he was here."

"Thank goodness, he wasn't." She stood upright and quickly adjusted her hair. "Did you really want to talk or were you saving me from your mother?"

"A mix of both, but I do want to talk. I uhh… I'm sorry for how I reacted last weekend and… the crap I pulled on Abbott," the plastic surgeon apologized, forcing himself to laugh. "I'm not sure why I was so upset. We were becoming good friends again, but I blew it. Well, what I'm trying to tell you is that I do want to be your friend. My life would feel a little empty if we stopped talking to each other altogether."

_More like completely empty_, he mentally corrected himself.

April appreciated his apology. She believed he was being sincere because his eyes never left hers. "I forgive you, Jackson. Honestly, it'd be weird not having you in my life either," she softly replied. "So, umm… where are you living now?"

"I'm moving into Sloan's apartment today," Jackson announced with a grin. "Torres offered it to me earlier, so I accepted."

"That's awesome for you." She tapped her fingers against the countertop, then she curiously raised her eyebrow at him. "Can I come over tonight? I mean, you shouldn't have to celebrate your new apartment alone, you know? It's like a best friend outing… except we're indoors."

"You don't have plans with your boyfriend?"

"He's working a little later than I am, so I thought I could hang out with you and kill time until Ryan's shift is over. You don't think we can hang out anymore because of what happened between you two?"

Jackson shook his head. "No, it's nothing like that," he insisted. "I just don't want to be in the way of whatever plans you have with him. I'm not even sure how entertaining Sloan's apartment will be. There probably isn't even any cable or food."

"Then, I'll bring food to you. What do you want for dinner?" April chirped.

"You're serious?" He wasn't sure why he doubted her intentions because he didn't mind her coming over to his new home at all and she seemed very eager to spend time with him. "Well, I mean of course you are. I'm just being a bumbling idiot at the moment."

She smirked at her normally more confident friend. "That's supposed to be my job," she teased. "Pizza and beer?"

"One can never go wrong with that. I'll see you tonight then." Jackson nodded his head towards Catherine, who was watching them from afar. "And I'll make sure she stops bugging you about sex. If only she knew the truth, right?"

April shyly laughed and playfully pushed him away. "Okay, get out of here. Don't keep your mother waiting too long."

After watching the two Averys step into an elevator, she glanced down at her tablet except she wasn't doing much work. Those gorgeous eyes and pearly whites remained an image in her head. She immediately shook them out of her mental image because he wasn't Ryan. Her new boyfriend had his own set of delectable features that could make most women swoon. And the orthopedic surgeon's sense of humor made her laugh nonstop. Oh, and the whole childhood best friends connection. Only he knew her younger years well.

But Jackson knew her as the person she was today. She realized comparing them would only stress her out. It was better to be grateful to have two good male friends than feel torn between them.

* * *

Unsurprising to Jackson, his mother opened their lunch date with the news that she had decided to relocate from Boston to Seattle. Catherine's relationship with Webber had been steady and living on opposite coasts was out of the question. Also, she wouldn't have to travel back and forth to attend important board meetings. It was an ideal situation for the urologist – support her boyfriend while spying on her son.

First, she claimed she was the mastermind in pairing April and Ryan together, to Jackson's dismay. She gushed over how beautiful their future children would be if they were to procreate. Somewhere during the conversation, the plastic surgeon stopped listening to his mother's rambling and quietly poked at his salad. The last thing he wanted to hear was Catherine praising the woman he loved for allegedly taking her advice and dating Mr. Sexy Abs.

"Whatever," he muttered. "He went to Yale."

Raising her eyebrow curiously, she suspected he had been hiding secrets from her. If she couldn't pick his brain now, she may have to share baby pictures of him to his coworkers to get him to confess. "What happened to that intern you were seeing, baby?"

"Personal life is off-limits, remember?" he reminded her, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, but I've been out of the loop for far too long. There is something going on with you, Jackson, and I would like to know why a man like you is unattached and staring at your best friend like you want to slip a diamond ring on her finger," Catherine bluntly said. Jackson gazed back at her speechless. She laughed as she rested the back of her hand beneath her chin. "Mother always knows best, dear."

Setting his plastic fork down, he immediately chose to deny her accusation. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, that's a load of horse pucky and you know it," she scoffed. "I was watching you two earlier. You stare at April the way your father used to stare at me in medical school."

"And how did the other half who's responsible for my existence stare at you?" Jackson sneered. He hardly knew his father and rarely talked about him unless someone else brought him up. For the most part, he never wanted to talk about him at all.

Catherine smirked back at him. "He stared at me like a man who was in love with the woman he envisioned marrying one day." She reached for Jackson's hand and gently squeezed it. "Do you love April, honey?"

He half-smiled at his mother, slowly shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. I blew it with her."

"What do you mean you blew it? Were you two dating in the past?"

"I can't talk about this with you," he murmured.

"I'm your mother, Jackson."

"And part-time sex therapist," the younger Avery quipped. He chuckled after Catherine lightly slapped his bicep in response. "Like I said, I can't talk about this with you when you just spent the past five minutes gloating about April and her lame ass boyfriend. You said they would have beautiful babies."

"What I meant was, they would have beautiful babies, _but_ not as beautiful as the ones you and April would make together," Catherine corrected herself. Jackson could only roll his eyes again, then she dismissively waved her hand. "You know I'm right, so stop rolling your eyes before I gauge them out with my knife."

"I'm still not talking about this."

"Okay. Well, I guess that means I will have to question April instead and I know exactly how to break her," she insinuated as she stood up from her seat.

Jackson grabbed Catherine's wrist and sternly glanced up at her. "Don't talk to April. You embarrass her enough with all of your unsolicited sex advice." He waited for her to sit down, then he cleared his throat and sighed. "We uhh… last year at the boards, we…"

He struggled to finish the sentence. Who the hell openly told their parents about their sexual experiences without feeling uncomfortable?

His awkward facial expressions were enough for Catherine figure it out on her own. "Jackson Avery," she gasped, placing her hand against her chest. "You deflowered April Kepner?"

"She gave me her virginity, alright? There was no forcing on my part," he retorted.

"You were a gentleman, yes?"

Jackson buried his face into his hands and groaned. "I can't believe we're actually discussing this." He moved his hands away from his face and folded his arms. "Everything got screwed up since then. She saw things one way, I saw things the other. And I want her to be happy, so don't try to sabotage her new relationship. She deserves to be happy with whoever she ends up with."

"I understand you want her to be happy, but I don't understand why she can't be happy with _you_." Catherine gently pinched her baby boy's cheek, which annoyed him to no end, and she smiled. "You're too good to be living alone. You're my son and I always want what's best for you. Anybody who is in love with another person doesn't sit back and watch their other half grow happy with somebody else. You know what those people are? They're cowards. I know I didn't raise you to become a coward, young man."

It wasn't the first time Jackson was called a coward, but when it came from his mama he knew she wasn't joking around. Averys were confident and fearless. However, he had been acting the complete opposite around April.

Opening up about his feelings wasn't one of his strongest assets. He had the tendency to keep them buried inside and closed off from the world. Part of it was own fault, though he could also blame his family for not being the type who sat together and spilled out their feelings to each other. He hadn't been able to tell Catherine the full story of what had happened with April. The pregnancy scare? Forget it. Even an out of wedlock pregnancy scare was unbecoming of an Avery.

"There was a silver lining to all of this," Jackson stated and mischievously smiled at Catherine. "I went through a whole year without you meddling. You think you'd be able to hold yourself back if you knew about April?"

The urologist pretended to claw at him as she cackled. "Baby, I would've had your wedding planned out by now," she jokingly replied before she returned to a serious tone. "You fight for her. Understood? I'm not telling you to play dirty. Don't turn that sweet woman into a cheater. Convince her that you're the perfect man for her."

"Fine, but you _cannot_ get involved for whatever reason," he countered. "No meddling whatsoever. Let me do this on my own."

"As of right now, I know nothing," she claimed, grasping his face and giving him a smooch on his cheek that left a lipstick mark behind. "Don't wipe that off yet. Make sure April sees that first, so she assumes some desperate intern left it there."

Jackson guffawed as he furrowed his eyebrows. "You just told me not to play dirty."

"Oh, this one's relatively harmless," Catherine casually replied.

"I've had my share of playing dirty already. It didn't work out in my favor." He picked up a napkin and wiped the red lipstick off of his cheek. "I'm done playing dirty."

* * *

Callie wasn't lying when she mentioned that Mark Sloan's old apartment was exactly the way he had left it, at least from what Jackson could remember based on his previous visits. His soft, beige couches in the middle of the living room. The flat screen TV hanging on his wall. That ugly piece of art on another wall he loathed and was eager to take down. All of Sofia's belongings were likely in the apartment next door now. It had been over a year since he stepped a foot inside of his former mentor's home, but nothing had changed.

As weird as it sounded, his fondest memory of the Plastics Posse was the time he came over to cook dinner for Mark and study for his boards – on Valentine's Day. The man was arrogant, but he was one hell of a teacher. Jackson felt like he owed him everything for where his career was now.

He and Callie dealt with the paperwork an hour before and he spent the rest of his time unpacking his clothes while he waited for April to arrive. Tonight wasn't going to be _the_ night he stopped hiding. As long as this casual hang out didn't go awry, he hoped she would see that it wasn't completely over between them without him having to drop any obvious hints.

The doorbell rang and Jackson nearly ran towards the front door. He came to a halt, smoothing out the wrinkles of his shirt before opening the door for April. She stood outside holding an extra large box of pizza in one hand and a six-pack case of Budweiser in the other.

"Am I late?" she sheepishly asked.

"No, I haven't been here long myself. Come in." He closed the door after she entered the apartment. Grabbing two plates from a cupboard, Jackson quickly washed them at the sink assuming they hadn't been used in about a year. After he dried them, he set them on the counter and sat on the bar stool beside April. "What'd you get?"

April opened the box to reveal a Hawaiian style pizza. "Surprise," she chuckled.

He smirked at her, raising his eyebrow skeptically. "You don't eat Hawaiian," the plastic surgeon blurted out. "You said during our intern year at Mercy West that pineapples and ham should never be combined because it just doesn't make any sense."

"I know, but I can change my mind," she said, grabbing a slice. "While you try to overcome the shock of me eating a Hawaiian pizza, I'm going to start eating because I'm freaking starving."

Jackson simply smiled as he got his own slice. "So… my mother agreed to stop bothering you about your sex life," he noted with a mouthful of pizza. "And she's moving here, which can be a good _and_ bad thing."

"There has to be a catch. I feel like it's impossible for her to avoid bringing up sex when we're having a conversation."

"I guarantee you, she'll stop. I mean it," he answered confidently. "Umm… how's the new relationship going?"

"We're great. Still getting used to the romantic aspect with Ryan. He's been really thoughtful and caring and sweet…" April pursed her lips as Jackson blankly stared back at her. She nervously laughed and sipped her beer. "You probably wanted a short answer. I know you don't want to listen to me ramble about him."

He pointed at himself. "Hey, I asked. Don't blame yourself for rambling. You're not you when you don't ramble."

"Please, I bet you wanted to shoot your ear drums every time I rambled," she scoffed, bashfully smiling at him.

"No. You're cute when you ramble," Jackson admitted, making the trauma surgeon blush.

April stuffed her mouth with more pizza in order to avoid replying to him. What exactly did he mean by _cute_? Cute as in adorable like a little kid meeting their celebrity crush? Or cute as in Jackson found her babbles attractive? She hated not knowing the answer, but she was afraid to ask.

"Th-there are things I can't do with Ryan, but I can do with you," she said after swallowing her latest bite.

"Like… what?" he slowly questioned. Unfortunately, sex was definitely not going to be one of those can's.

"Well, I can't visit Charles and Reed with him because he doesn't have that special connection with them like we do. We can't reminisce about the shenanigans from our Mercy West years. I mean, I can, but he wouldn't find the humor in the things we did back then because he wasn't there," she listed, though it was much harder to find reasons that didn't sound half-assed. "Oh! And I can't complain to him when I need to complain about him."

Jackson appreciated her effort to give him legit reasons, but the only one that made sense to him was visiting their deceased best friends on their death anniversary. However, this year, they hadn't gone together marking the first time they went separately. Their friendship had gradually dissipated since they ended their confusing relationship. Charles and Reed were likely rolling over in their graves, he thought.

He was lost in his own internal reflections that he hadn't noticed that April was rambling yet again, but one subject seemed to catch his attention.

"…I honestly thought Sloan was talking to the person behind me, but nobody was there. He said you had been stressed out and uptight, so he thought it would be a brilliant idea for us to become more than study buddies. I know he's dead, but c'mon – that's sexual harassment, right?"

"Sloan tried to persuade you into sleeping with me?" Jackson hadn't heard that story from the redhead, which he found odd because she confided in him for everything prior to their night in San Francisco. "How come you never told me about this?"

April softly laughed as she brushed back strands of her hair. "I don't know. I suppose I was embarrassed or I was afraid you'd think it was hilarious for somebody like me to end up in bed with you," she murmured, her cheeks turning bright red again. "He just wanted you to get laid. I don't think it really meant anything- well, back then when we were just friends… without the benefits."

Jackson chugged his beer while he recalled Mark's annoying persistence to get him laid that day. He had suggested many women, but April wasn't one of them. Maybe he figured his resident would have been livid if he mentioned his then-virginal best friend. Would he have even considered it?

The bar fight alone was a major turn on, but when she kissed him later that night his whole perspective of her changed instantly. It frustrated him that he couldn't ask Sloan why he never talked about April to his face. He would know exactly what to do now.

She grew a little uncomfortable as he stared intently at her without saying a word. He briefly licked his lips, making her more nervous. "Umm… what?"

He took a deep breath before he glumly replied, "I miss Mark."

April had fully expected him to say something that would increase the awkward tension between them, but maybe it was a good thing that he hadn't. She sadly smiled back at Jackson instead. "I know. I do too."


	8. Libby and Kimmie

**Sorry for the long wait, folks! :)**

* * *

April wasn't sure why they were coming to visit and they hadn't given her a warning until the day before. Two of her sisters had decided to fly into Seattle without giving her a specific reason. All she received was a simple text message from her older sister Libby after arriving home from her shift.

_Kimmie and I will be in town tomorrow. Make sure to set aside time for us!_

She nearly had a nervous breakdown because she wasn't prepared to see her family. Too exhausted to clean her apartment – not that it needed much cleaning, the trauma surgeon also worried that she would be an awful host if she forced Libby and Kimmie to sleep on the couches in the living room. However, her worries slightly vanished after she called the oldest Kepner daughter and learned they were staying in a hotel instead.

But one thing continued to bother her. Why were they randomly visiting her in the first place?

A few theories popped into her head. One, she had told all three of her sisters about Ryan and the nosiest ones were curious to see him again. Two, perhaps Libby wanted to give Jackson a piece of her mind. She seemed to be holding a grudge against the plastic surgeon after she learned about their complicated relationship. Or three, they simply wanted to spend time with her.

Despite being a surgeon, April found the third theory hard to believe because she was the least interesting sister of the foursome, at least she thought so. Libby was two years older and always exuded confidence, way more than the redhead ever did. She was a dance teacher in Columbus with a husband and three children. Kimmie, who was three years younger, had been acting in plays since she was six years old. Now she was performing on stage daily in Chicago. And Alice, six years younger, recently finished grad school and opted to use her free time traveling with her friends before finding a job.

Personality wise, they were all much easier to like than herself.

Neither sister gave her a specific time of when they would be arriving at the hospital. April personally hated being surprised like this, especially when she had no idea why they were coming in the first place. And a major trauma could storm into the ER at any minute. At the moment, she was busy watching Leah perform stitches on a patient's cheek and making sure it wasn't sloppy.

"Nice work, Murphy. You've got the angles right, so there will hardly be a scar when all is healed," she complimented the young resident.

"Wow, this emergency room is like a page out of a movie set," a familiar voice stated behind April. She turned around to see Libby and Kimmie scanning the pit in awe. The younger Kepner sister grinned at her. "So, where's George Clooney?"

April folded her arms. "I thought I texted you two to wait for me in the lobby when you arrived," she irritably greeted them. "I told you to have a nurse page me."

"Yeah, but that's not fun. We wanted to see you in action since we've never actually seen you being a doctor," Libby insisted and embraced her with a hug. "Your hair's getting longer. Almost as long as Kimmie's. Are you growing it out?"

"Not really. I've just been too busy to even get a haircut," she muttered, pulling away from her sister. April softly smiled at the both of them. "_Now_ can you tell me why you decided to come to Seattle? I have a feeling you're doing more than just visiting, so what's going on?"

"Well…" the oldest sister grabbed her own breasts causing the trauma surgeon to raise both of her eyebrows. "…I want a boob job and I heard your hospital has a decent plastic surgeon."

She gasped and waved her finger at Libby. "Oh, no, no, no. I know what you're up to. You're not fooling me one bit. You are _not_ going to harass Jackson and besides, you don't need a freaking boob job!"

Libby glanced down at her chest. "Are you sure? Because I do think one boob is bigger than the other," she implied. "All of those leotards I wear to my dance classes might have distorted one of them. What do you think, Kimmie?"

"I definitely think she needs a consult," Kimmie agreed. "How does it work? Can you page Jackson yourself?"

April escorted her sisters towards the nurses' station for a little more privacy. "Listen, I appreciate your efforts to support me, but Jackson and I are friends again. We're on good terms and I don't want anything ruining that," she explained. "Anyway, there are other plastic surgeons in this hospital. Jackson isn't even the most experienced one."

"You just don't want him seeing my boobs because he's seen _your_ boobs," Libby accusingly said, sharing a laugh with Kimmie. "We're all professional here. No need to get jealous, April."

"I'm not jealous," she retorted. "Like I said, you don't need a boob job. And if you sincerely want one, I will page another doctor, but not Jackson. His schedule is full, board meetings and stuff today."

Truthfully, he wasn't _that_ busy. She felt she needed to come up with any excuse to keep her sisters away from Jackson for a variety of reasons. April feared Libby wouldn't hold back on what she wanted to tell the pretty boy, potentially creating another rift between the two Mercy Westers. And she also refused to let him see another set of Kepner boobs. All her life, relatives and friends compared her physical appearance to Libby's and loathed it every time. She didn't need to hear about whose rack was more attractive too.

"But I'm sure he'll make an exception since you're my sister," Libby persisted, refusing to take "No" for an answer. She wanted to know what the fuss was all about with Jackson. Pictures of him weren't enough. They needed to talk face to face. "If you're not going to page him, then I'll have somebody else do it."

Ryan walked by staring at the x-ray scans in his hands. He briefly glimpsed at the Kepner sisters before taking a step back with a puzzled expression. "Whoa, is there a family reunion I don't know about?" he amusingly said and chuckled. "Elizabeth and Kimberly. Long time, no see."

Libby smugly grinned at the orthopedic surgeon. "I was hoping we'd run into you too. I mean, you were the only boy who hadn't befriended April because she was smart," she replied, to her sister's dismay. Slowly examining his tall physique, she nodded in approval. "You certainly grew up, huh?"

"Puberty was good to me, I suppose," he sheepishly answered before looking at Kimmie. "Are you still doing the acting thing?"

"Yup, the acting thing is still very much me," the brunette casually responded. "I thought you liked Cleveland."

"I did, but a change of scenery isn't too bad." Ryan wrapped his arm around April's waist and smiled. "She's here, so I have no regrets about leaving Cleveland behind."

April looked up at her boyfriend. "Wait, when did you and Kimmie see each other?"

"Oh, it was a while back. A few years ago, I think," he recalled. "We bumped into each other at a Browns game and that's pretty much it. I don't remember much of that night."

"That _night_?" she asked inquisitively.

"It was a football game. I had a bunch of beers, so I was wasted," he clarified, awkwardly smiling at her. April didn't appear convinced by his story, furrowing her eyebrows at him. "Kimmie and I just talked. Nothing happened."

Facing her younger sister, April stared intensely at her. "Is that the truth?" She snapped her fingers when Kimmie avoided eye contact with her. "Hey, I've learned how to get nasty too, so you either tell me the truth or I'll force it out of you."

"It didn't mean anything, I swear!" Kimmie panicked, covering her mouth afterwards. "He- he was trying to get over his divorce-"

"Oh my God!" she yelped, drawing attention from nurses and other doctors. April adjusted her lab coat and took a deep breath to calm herself. "So, let me get this straight. You two had a drunken one night stand a few years ago?"

Ryan gestured his hand towards Kimmie. "Like she said, it meant nothing. My divorce had just become final, so I was a lonely guy-"

"You slept with my sister! That is not okay!" she angrily replied. Shaking her head, she walked away from the group. After learning of the past connection between Ryan and Kimmie, she saw them in an entirely different light. It didn't matter to her that it happened long before they reunited. It was still a line she believed they had crossed.

* * *

"Dude, can you recommend a restaurant for me to bring Jo to?" Alex asked Jackson, who was sitting on the couch in the attendings lounge. The pediatric surgeon was seated at the dining table with a bowl of cereal. "She's been nagging me to take her out because we finally have time for a real date and she wants to do that fancy crap."

Flipping open a newspaper, his colleague sighed as he skimmed an article. "Any place that doesn't require you to tuck your napkin into your shirt," he casually replied.

"Well, that cancels out almost everything," he sarcastically answered.

The door swung open, followed by a long, shrill groan as April entered the room. Both men immediately glanced up at her curiously, then she stood in front of Jackson. "My sisters are here," she announced in frustration. "They are here because they want to talk to you."

The plastic surgeon tilted his newspaper downward to look at April. "What about?" She quietly motioned her arms back and forth between each other and he quickly got the hint. "Oh… why?"

"It doesn't matter. I refuse to let them talk to you," she stubbornly responded, folding her arms. "Oh! And another thing. I also found out that Ryan and Kimmie had a one night stand a few years ago. He _slept_ with my _sister_!"

"Huh, that's… awkward," Jackson slowly said, raising his newspaper to cover the smirk on his face. He wanted nothing more than to laugh hysterically at the matter. Not because April was upset but to him, it meant Ryan was never going to have sex with her now. She was visibly disgusted and hurt, so he felt slightly guilty for finding it amusing.

"I never thought he would be the type of person who would go ahead and do that. That's something Karev would do," she scoffed.

"It depends. Are your sisters hot?" Alex teasingly questioned, drawing a glare from April. He snickered while he finished his cereal. "Abbott's not perfect. Whatever. Like he knew he would run into your perky self in the near future. If you're sleeping with him, then I can see how that would disturb you since it's the closest to having sex with your sister. Are you having sex with him?"

The trauma surgeon pursed her lips, furrowing her eyebrows at Karev. "Not that it's any of your business, but no. We are not having sex," she sternly replied. Facing Jackson again, she sighed. "This ruins everything, you know? What if I were to marry him and on our honeymoon, all I can think about is the fact that he slept with Kimmie first? I'm like the Kepner sloppy seconds!"

"That's not true. At least I never slept with any of your sisters," Jackson proudly stated. She grabbed his newspaper in response and tossed it aside. "Hey, I was reading that."

"I need advice, Jackson. Put yourself in my shoes. If you found out your boyfriend slept with your sister in the past, what would you do? Would it be a big deal to you?" April inquired. She began pacing back and forth in front of him. "I have to break up with him. I _should_ break up with him, right?"

He was at a loss for words, wondering what she was trying to imply. Was she asking him to tell her to dump Ryan or was she attempting to guilt him into telling her to give him another chance like a good friend would? Of course his personal preference would be to get rid of the orthopedic surgeon, but what if that wasn't what she wanted to hear?

"Umm… do _you_ want to break up with him?" he asked inquisitively. "I don't know a whole lot about your relationship with Abbott, so it's not my place to tell you what to do. Just do what you think is best for yourself."

April's pager beeped, eliciting another groan from her. "Can we talk about this later? I have to report downstairs for incoming trauma. This conversation isn't over yet," she insisted and headed for the exit. She stopped in the doorway, looking at Jackson one last time. "Also, Libby claims she wants a boob job. Trust me, she doesn't need one. It's best if you avoid her altogether. If you decide to meet with her for whatever reason, do not under any circumstances, let her show you her boobs. And for your information, she's married with three kids."

Alex shook his head after the redhead left the lounge. "I swear, she is so freaking weir-"

"I told you not to call her that anymore," Jackson retorted.

"Fine. _You're_ weird," he sneered. Standing up from his seat, Alex walked towards the sink and dropped off his bowl. He leaned against the counter, smirking at his coworker. "You are letting Kepner slip away more and more each day. I'm beginning to think you were born without balls all along."

He rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Dude, she practically opened her vagina to you a minute ago! I'm no freaking expert with relationships, but the fact that she was considering dumping Abbott means she's still hung up on you," Karev insinuated and chuckled. "Telling you not to peek at her sister's boobs? Screams jealousy to me. If you had a brother, would you be ticked off if he saw Kepner's boobs? Assuming he doesn't go blind afterwards…"

Jackson scowled at Alex. "There is nothing wrong with her boobs. They're quite amazing boobs, actually," he murmured, staring down at his shoes. "Ones that I'm sure Abbott will never get to see, thank God."

"This whole friend zone crap you've got going on is pathetic. Stop waiting for the right moment and man up now. You're wasting time, Avery," he advised, walking towards the exit. "Otherwise, I'm calling you Mr. No Balls until whoever between the two of us dies first."

Sitting alone in the lounge, Jackson sighed in frustration. What was he still waiting for? Alex, Cristina, Callie and even his own mother had been giving him the same advice, yet he remained in square one – single and bitter. The opportunity was there. He just needed to finally act on it.

* * *

"More suction, Murphy," April ordered while she operated on a car accident victim's injured liver.

Her resident followed instructions, eying the two attendings occupying the OR with her. Ryan was busy treating a fractured right tibia, while his girlfriend stood beside him and worked on the abdominal injuries. However, Leah sensed there was growing tension between them because they barely spoke a word to each other since being forced to work together downstairs in the pit. She had heard her mentor's outburst earlier that morning and knew she was upset over something, but she didn't know the details.

"Dr. Murphy, rather than standing around holding the suction tool for the entire duration of our time in here, would you like to assist me in securing the rod to the tibia?" Ryan enthusiastically asked. "I'm sure one of the interns can take over for you."

Leah smiled behind her surgical mask. "Yes, of course. Thank-"

"First my sister, now my resident," April intervened, her eyes remaining focused on their patient.

"Let's not do this in here, Dr. Kepner," Ryan sighed, glancing up at her. "This isn't the time nor the place to-"

"Dr. Murphy, do you have any sisters?" she continued and ignored the man beside her.

Leah nodded her head. "Umm, yes. I have one. She's four years younger than me," she politely answered. The tension was now borderline unbearable for her after she somehow got caught in the middle of the couple's quarrel. "Why do you ask?"

"How would you feel if the man you were dating slept with your sister beforehand?" April calmly questioned. "And what if you only found out _after_ you started dating him?"

"Umm, well…"

Ryan cleared his throat. "To be fair, this guy you're dating was your childhood best friend who moved away and never thought you'd see again. Plus, the one night stand happened after both of us had a bunch of beers and weren't our true selves," he added, drawing a scowl from April. He shrugged, looking back at Leah. "I figured you needed to know all of the details."

The confused resident raised her eyebrow at them. "Are we still talking about myself or should I shut up and let you two carry on with your fight?"

"The point is I can't even look at you without thinking about the fact that you saw Kimmie naked," April angrily said, shaking her head in disgust. "We all grew up together until you moved away, but you were _my_ best friend. I don't care if we hadn't seen each other in years. Knowing you slept with another Kepner doesn't sit well with me. Hey, Alice is single. How about you sleep with her too?"

"You're acting really immature right now," the orthopedic surgeon muttered.

"Well, you're a terrible friend," she countered. "Can somebody page Dr. Torres and check her availability, please?"

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Because I'm in charge of this case, I'm kicking you out. I'll have Torres take over for you," April chirped, avoiding eye contact with him. "If I'm going to save this man's liver, I need you as far away as possible. You're distracting me."

"Does this mean I don't get to help place the rod anymore?" Leah sheepishly asked. Her superiors stared back at her unamused and she dropped her head in response. "Need more suction, Dr. Kepner?"

"Not at the moment," she answered.

The operating room became uncomfortably quiet for everybody inside. April was positive she would stab Ryan in the eye with her scalpel if he spoke or she even noticed him looking at her. She didn't want to deal with him or Kimmie at all.

* * *

Jackson decided to set up an appointment with Libby after a nurse had paged him. He wasn't interested in checking out her breasts, but he wanted to meet the sister April used to complain about. Whether or not they would have a nasty encounter, he hoped he could leave a lasting impression on her older sister, maybe even prove to her that he loved the perky redhead.

Upon entering an examination room, he found Libby waiting in a hospital gown. Kimmie was also in the room, which he hadn't expected, but he figured he may as well kill two birds with one stone. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Kepner-Michaelson. That's a long name," he mumbled the last comment to himself. He approached the two siblings, extending out his hand. "I'm Dr. Avery-"

"We know who you are. You can call me Libby," the eldest Kepner sister greeted him with a half-smile. After shaking his hand, she nodded her head towards Kimmie. "This is Kimmie. And maybe April already mentioned to you that a couple of her sisters are in town."

"Ah, yes. She did," Jackson confirmed, reaching for a stool and sitting down on it. "Honestly, she didn't seem too thrilled either, but I'll let you guys deal with that on your own. So, you're interested in breast implants?"

"Actually, no. I love the way my breasts are, but if you want to take a look anyway…"

He raised his hand as Libby reached for the strings on the back of her gown. "No, no! It's fine," he quickly answered, slightly grimacing. In this case, no boobs is good news. If he ever got his act together, the woman in front of him could eventually become his sister-in-law. "Leave the gown on, please."

Kimmie softly laughed. "Wow, even in a professional environment you can't look at her boobs?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I know I'm a doctor, but I know you aren't here for a boob job, so let me have it," he insisted, waving his hand at himself. "Grill me. Do whatever you want. I deserve it. I had many opportunities to be with April and I choked."

"Hmm… what do you think of Ryan Abbott?" the younger Kepner asked.

"He's a tool," he responded without hesitation. Jackson forced himself to laugh as April's sisters blankly stared at him. "Well, not just because he apparently slept with Kimmie. He's uhh… he's done some douchey crap since he arrived. Nothing to do with him dating April."

Libby scoffed. "Please, it has everything to do with him dating April. You're jealous," she accusingly said. "But I suppose I can't blame you. You've seen what you're up against. Ryan's a farmer's son with a nice body. And you're what? A city kid?"

"Yeah, so what?" the plastic surgeon nonchalantly answered.

"We know you come from a rich family, while in Moline we were all blue-collar workers. We had to work ten times harder to achieve our goals," Kimmie added.

"So did I. My family didn't take me seriously because I'm the so-called pretty one," Jackson argued. "Besides, April never saw me for my family's money. Our friendship was real and we trusted each other. It's just things are sort of different now."

"I see what drew her in." She playfully pointed at the gorgeous Avery eyes. "Are you wearing contacts?"

He shook his head and smiled. "They're 100% authentic, but April's not a shallow person. She tries to get to know a person before making a final judgment on them. A lot of people I've come into contact with don't do that. That's why she's special."

"Are you trying to charm us?" Kimmie skeptically questioned. "Because we were raised on a farm where we learned to toughen up and if we find out you're faking it, I won't hesitate to give you an ass whoopin'. This is our sister we're trying to protect. I can do it, you know."

Jackson held up both of his hands in front of his chest as she removed her jacket. "Okay, okay. Calm down for a minute," he ordered, nervously laughing. "Nobody has to become violent right now. I'm being sincere. April is important to me."

Libby sighed in frustration and exchanged glances with Kimmie. "Dammit, he's kind of sweet." She looked back at the pretty boy. "I desperately wanted to give you a long lecture about how awesome my sister is and how she deserved better after you broke her heart, but you're making it very difficult to dislike you."

"I think it's the eyes," Kimmie insisted, grinning at Jackson. "They're so hypnotizing."

"Now the million dollar question is, why aren't you and April together?"

He rubbed the back of his neck knowing he didn't have the greatest answer to give. "We uhh… it was messy. She was my best friend. The way I see her now wasn't how I saw her then. Everything became complicated, so I ended things between us. Then, I moved on and she moved on…"

"But the way you talk about her shows you clearly aren't over her," Libby noted. "And you're not doing anything about it. If you're not going to, then you probably don't deserve her. Why should April wait around for somebody who's afraid to speak up?"

"Why is this all on me? She sent me mixed signals too."

"April's the type of person you need to be straightforward with. Otherwise, she misinterprets stuff and second guesses herself," Kimmie explained. "You rejecting her wasn't much help. She's not sure what to think when she's around you."

Jackson nodded his head in agreement. He was fully aware of the fact that April was still naïve sometimes, but he would lose his patience with her whenever she went off on one of her metaphorical rambles. He really just wanted simple and fun, yet he knew he had been running away from his problems rather than facing them. Talking to her sisters was the largest kick in the rear end he needed.

* * *

Following the end of her shift, April was moody and tired. She snapped at her residents over the most harmless questions and dodged her sisters until she finished her work. The threesome walked out of the hospital, finally finding room to spend quality time together.

"What about Chinese?" Libby suggested for dinner. "Any good places to order from?"

"Yeah, there are places," the redhead unenthusiastically replied. "You know, you two didn't have to stay at the hospital the entire day. I'm sure you would've enjoyed exploring Seattle instead."

Kimmie dismissively shook her head. "Nope. We had a lovely chat with Jackson, though. He turned out to be a very nice guy. Much hotter in person too," she teasingly said.

April rolled her eyes. "Kimmie, shut up. I don't want to talk or think about Jackson or Ryan or anybody of the opposite sex for that matter," she resentfully stated. "And I'm still mad at you for sleeping with Ryan and never telling me. That would've changed everything."

"Lighten up. He's attractive, but I'm not interested in him," she assured her sister. "Plus, we were so wasted that I'm positive the sex was sloppy and awful."

"I said shut up!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in frustration. Stopping just before reaching the parking lot, the trauma surgeon closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. It's been a long day and I just want to pig out on Chinese takeout and regret it in the morning."

She opened her eyes after hearing Ryan's voice from afar. He caught up with them and waited for her to turn around. "Can we please talk? Just for a minute?" he breathlessly asked before peering over the top of April's head at Libby and Kimmie. "Alone?"

"We'll go wait for you by your car – whichever one it is," Libby awkwardly replied, walking away and dragging Kimmie along with her.

April slipped her hands inside of her jacket pockets. "Okay, what?"

Ryan slightly frowned. "So I know I can't take back that night with Kimmie. I would if I could because it was a mistake. I was hurting from my divorce and she was somebody I knew well enough. And seeing her today didn't change how I feel about you because well, I never had feelings for her to begin with," he admitted, though she appeared uninterested in what he had to say. "You're pissed at me and I guess you should be. It was something I never wanted you to find out about, but obviously, I can't undo that and I'm sorry."

"No, you can't," she muttered. "Are you done now?"

"Almost." He softly smiled at her. "Remember when we had that talk at Joe's? You were upset over Jackson rejecting you and I told you guys would be lining up for you? To be honest, I hope they don't because I want you. I don't want to share you with anyone else. Up until today, we've been good. No drama or whatever. Any guy who takes you for granted shouldn't even be a thought in your head. And I'm not one of those guys. I want you, April. Please tell me you still want me too."

April bit down on her lower lip. She had prepared herself to listen to Ryan and walk away as if their conversation never happened, but he managed to loosen her up with his words. While he wasn't completely off the hook, she could tell he meant his apology.

"April," another voice called out. This time the voice belonged to Jackson, who approached the couple and stood beside the blonde man. No more fooling around for him. He couldn't care less about his foe's presence. "I need to talk to you. It's important. I'm not moving until you agree to talk to me."

Glancing back and forth between the two men, she felt conflicted by what to do. She didn't want to hurt either of them. So much for avoiding both men for the rest of the night…


	9. Open Your Eyes

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**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jackson's plan to confront April whenever he had the chance to didn't go as well as he had imagined. He caught her at a bad time. She was moody and his favorite douche face just happened to be present when he finally found her outside. It wasn't rejection. More like a rain check. At least he hadn't received the type of answer Ryan did, which actually made the plastic surgeon quite optimistic about himself.

_12 hours ago…_

_There she was, standing in front of two men who each expected to be favored over the other. Both of them were waiting for an answer from her, but her mind was telling her to think for a minute. They needed her for different reasons, but what about her needs?_

_"April, I think we found your car!" Kimmie's voiced echoed loudly from the parking lot. "Do you have a pink vibrator sitting in the backseat?"_

_Closing her eyes and pursing her lips, April knew her sister was purposely embarrassing her in front of Jackson and Ryan, possibly also trying to tell her that she and Libby were growing impatient. "No. That's not my car!" she sternly yelled back. "Give me a minute!"_

_"Well, hurry up! We're starving!" Libby shouted._

_She opened her eyes, first glancing at Jackson and then at Ryan. "Today's been super frustrating. My sisters are waiting for me and I swear to God, if one of them says one more obnoxious thing, I'm going to kill them both. It's late and I'm tired and… I just can't right now – with either of you. So, I'm going home with my sisters," she declared._

_"Okay…" the pretty boy slowly replied._

_"Jackson, can we save whatever you want to talk about for tomorrow?" April let out a sigh of relief when he simply nodded in response. She turned around to leave, then she stopped to look back at Ryan. "Don't call me."_

_Watching the trauma surgeon retreat to the parking lot, Jackson couldn't help but feel smug about how her attitude towards him differed from how she acted with Ryan. He was mentally thanking the guy for sleeping with Kimmie and destroying any hope of a second chance with, what his biased mind believed, was the better and more attractive Kepner sister._

_A small smile formed on his face until the orthopedic surgeon scowled at him. He simply cleared his throat, turning to his right while Ryan awkwardly walked the opposite direction._

Now, Jackson stood at the entrance of the pit staring at April. She was standing by the nurses' station explaining instructions to Shane, appearing to be in a brighter mood. He had actually found her angry side sexy. The way she had been wound up and then taking control of the matter, how could he not love that side of her? She had been confident with her decision even though it hadn't gone his way. Angry, but confident.

Her resident left her alone, so he casually approached her afterwards. Jackson leaned against the countertop, resting his forearm on the surface and using his pretty boy smile to catch her attention. "Good morning," he greeted her.

"Your creepy staring remains unflattering, Jackson," April teased with a smirk.

"I was simply waiting for Ross to leave," he insisted, though he truly was doing the creepy staring thing again. He mentally scolded himself for assuming she wouldn't have noticed. "How was your night with your sisters?"

"It was a great stress reliever, actually. We pigged out on Chinese food in their hotel room, though I'm beginning to feel the after effects of what we ordered," she answered, lightly clutching her abdomen. "And I probably came off really bitchy to you last night and I'm sorry."

Jackson dismissively waved his hand. "No, don't be sorry. I have an idea why you weren't in the mood to talk. So, I was thinking we could talk privately… over dinner? You know, where my mother isn't lurking around? Somewhere that won't be full of interruptions," he suggested in a serious tone. "My place at eight o'clock? I'll cook."

"You don't cook," April chuckled. "And the microwave doesn't count. What can you cook?"

"As a matter of fact, I can cook a really mean… well, it's mean. Trust me," he adorably responded and winked at her. "Is that a yes? I promise I won't poison you."

She softly smiled and nodded. "Dinner it is. I'll see you at your apartment."

The amount of happiness and excitement Jackson was feeling showed on his face. He tried not to show how giddy he felt because he practically asked April out on a date without using the big 'D' word. She had also accepted fairly quickly. When he thought about it thoroughly it was going to be their first real date, one that had been a long time coming. And he slightly regretted gloating about his cooking abilities considering she knew him too well. For somebody who enjoyed food and ate anything and everything in sight, his skills in the kitchen were crap. There was a high possibility the beautiful redhead in front of him would have to save the night from going completely awry.

"Anything else?" she asked, interrupting his cloud nine moment.

He suddenly felt silly because he was certain he had been grinning like a lovestruck teenage boy with uncontrollable hormones. "Oh, umm… did your sisters say anything to you about me?"

"Nothing that should concern you," she replied with a shrug. "Libby told me she didn't have to make use of the brass knuckle she had hidden in her purse."

"Her _what?_"

April burst into high-pitched laughter. "Jackson, I was kidding. Relax," she amusingly stated. "Do you honestly think my sisters would beat you up?"

"They were rather intimidating, actually," the plastics attending sheepishly responded.

Callie appeared from behind the nurses' station, sitting down in front of one of the computers. "Avery, what are you doing tonight after work?"

Jackson faced his coworker, smiling gleefully. "I have plans, why?"

"Drop those plans because you're babysitting Sofia instead," she nonchalantly said while she stared at the computer screen. "I have my own plans, very important plans that were brought up at the last minute."

"Uhh... I have plans," he reminded her.

"And I told you to drop them. Remember our deal with the apartment?" Callie countered, tilting her head and raising her eyebrow at Jackson. The look on her face meant business. "You're babysitting. Pick my daughter up from daycare at 6:30. I'll let them know ahead of time you're coming to get her. Don't be late, Avery."

April snickered as the Latina woman stood up and walked away. "You? Babysitting?" She gazed down at her tablet. "I guess dinner is off the table then."

Jackson shook his head. "Nope. Dinner is _not_ off the table," he determinedly said, placing his hands on his hips. He hardly knew squat about taking care of a child and she was the expert babysitter amongst their small group of friends. "Come over anyway – to Torres' place, I mean. We can watch Sofia together. Besides, even if you decide it's a bad idea, I'll be calling you nonstop for help."

"It would be terrible of me to let Sofia be alone with you," she quipped, drawing a playful eye roll from him. "My shift doesn't end until seven, so I'll be running a little late. Should I buy us dinner on the way there?"

"No. I'll think of something. All you have to do is come over," he quickly answered. "Hopefully, Sofia will fall asleep by eight and then we can have dinner and talk. It'll be fine. Almost like my original plan except there's a kid thrown into the equation, which changes up the game a little, but not in a bad way, of course."

"Yeah, of course," April timidly agreed, forcing herself to laugh. "She's a sweet girl. I don't think she'll give us a hard time later. And I've babysat toddlers in the past, so I'm not entirely clueless about caring for a child."

Jackson scratched the back of his head as he stepped away from her. Talking about kids brought back not so fond memories of their pregnancy scare and the downfall that followed because of it. "Okay, so we're all set," he concluded. "I'll see you tonight."

"See ya, Jackson." She smiled back at him and laughed after he clumsily bumped into a nurse on his way out. The end of the conversation felt somewhat uncomfortable, yet she found herself looking forward to hanging out with her best friend again without the awkwardness.

* * *

"Baby, I paged you at least four times now," Catherine called out to Jackson after she finally spotted him roaming down a hallway. Her red high heels clanked against the floor as she marched towards him. "How come you didn't answer my pages? What if it was an emergency?"

"Somehow, I doubt it," he humorously replied. His mother sternly stared back at him and he sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry. What do you need me for?"

The urologist squeezed her baby boy's shoulder and grinned. "I was thinking you should come over for dinner tonight," she cheerfully suggested. "You, Richard and I. We thought maybe the three of us could have weekly dinner dates at his house. Just once a week. No whining allowed."

Jackson smirked at his mother. "This is why you paged me?" he asked, feeling partially annoyed. His gut feeling had told him Mama Avery was paging him for a non-emergency. "Thanks, but I can't. I'm babysitting tonight."

"Babysitting?" she skeptically inquired and folded her arms. "Is that your new code word for sex, dear?"

"What? No, of course not," he retorted. "I'm serious. I'm babysitting."

"Who trusted you enough to watch their precious baby?"

"Torres," the plastic surgeon muttered.

Jackson wasn't surprised by Catherine's skepticism because she rarely saw him holding a young child, let alone interacting with one. That was partly due to his own father leaving the family when he was barely past his toddler years. Without a solid father figure for guidance, he doubted the likelihood of becoming a good parent to his own kid, so he avoided children as much as possible.

"Do you need an extra set of hands? We can reschedule dinner and I'll stop by to ensure you won't kill little Sofia," she offered.

He instantly shook his head. With April already joining him, his mother coming over would ruin everything. "No, thank you," he declined. "Mom, I can handle this. Do not think about stopping by the apartment tonight. I'm a grown man. I can watch a 2-year old on my own, okay?"

She remained unconvinced. "Are you sure, baby? What do you know about taking care of a toddler?"

"I know they wouldn't want their babysitter's meddling mother involved," Jackson sarcastically replied.

"Oh, drop the attitude, sweetie," she scolded him. "Fine, I won't bother you. You're right. You are a grown man who may or may not have a clue about how to handle a child in a non-surgical setting. You do need to practice if you're ever going to give me some grandbabies, which leads me to another question. Have you talked to April about your feelings for her?"

"Not yet and you're still not allowed to intrude," he agitatedly answered. "Leave her alone."

A light bulb nearly exploded in Catherine's head when she spotted April exiting an elevator nearby. "Ah, Dr. Kepner! Just the lovely face I've been eager to see," she boisterously said, to Jackson's dismay. She rushed towards the nervous redhead, grinning from ear to ear. "What are you doing tonight, dear?"

"That's not necessary, Mom," Jackson intervened after catching up with her. He stood behind his mother, nodding his head at April as if to tell her to run away and never look back. "I'm sure April's got somewhere she has to be at this very moment, so how about you let her go do whatever important thing that needs to be done?"

"Let her speak for herself, baby," she chided, then she smiled at the trauma surgeon. "April?"

"Umm… I am babysitting." April noticed Jackson frantically waving his hands and shaking his head. She forced herself to smile at Catherine. "Zola and Bailey. I'm babysitting Zola and Bailey, so Grey and Shepherd can enjoy a relaxing night out alone."

Raising her eyebrow at her, Mama Avery reached behind her, grabbing her son's wrist and pulling him beside her. "Oh, what a coincidence? Jackson's babysitting Sofia tonight. A play date for all of the little ones would be fun, don't you think?" She leaned forward close to April's ear and whispered, "I really worry Sofia won't survive the night under his watch."

"Actually, I think Jackson will be fine, Dr. Avery. Don't worry about him so much." Shyly backing away from the two Averys, April nervously bit her lower lip. If she stuck around any longer, she was certain she would crack and fess up. "Well, I'm going to the cafeteria to get some lunch. Stomach's gurgling and I have a feeling a trauma will come rushing in before I can eat, so I should head out now."

Catherine watched the redhead scurry through a set of doors before she looked up at Jackson. "You know, _you_ could always bring Sofia to Shepherd's house instead," she insinuated.

Her son spun around on his heel and walked the opposite direction. "Give it a rest, please," he groaned.

"What? You've had plenty of time to talk to April and you're still acting like a coward," she nagged as she followed him through the hallway. "She is a sweet woman who obviously cares about you-"

"Hey, is that Grandpa?" Jackson convincingly asked, pointing over Catherine's shoulder.

"What in the world would he be doing here?" she responded, turning around to search for Harper Avery. The sounds of footsteps running away alerted her, but the plastic surgeon was already too far away from her to stop him. "Jackson! I'm your mother and you will never be able to evade me even after I die!"

* * *

April managed to eat a complete lunch without being paged once from the pit. It almost felt like a victory for her because she had been interrupted all week, so she was happy to have timing on her side this time. She waited for an elevator to take her back downstairs to the ER. Timing decided it would only be kind to her lunch break. She should have known some mystical power was going to force her to face Ryan again soon after she saw him inside of the elevator. She knew she couldn't pretend he didn't exist anymore. Avoidance wasn't one of her biggest strengths.

He didn't seem too pleased to see her either, but he cared enough to hold the door open for her. The trauma surgeon hesitantly stepped inside, keeping space between her and Ryan. "Going down to the pit?" she politely asked.

"Yes. I was paged to check out a dislocated shoulder," the orthopedic surgeon calmly replied. "Are you okay now? Did you cool off?"

"If you mean I'm not mad at you anymore for sleeping with Kimmie, no. I'm still upset about that," she straightforwardly stated. "A secret like that doesn't just fly out of my head like I never found out. It… changes how I perceive you as a boyfriend, as a friend too."

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows at April. "So, what are you trying to tell me? You're breaking up with me?"

"You openly said that you weren't going to tell me that you slept with my sister, so you've been lying. I've done the lying thing in the past and it blew up in my face." She sighed and folded her arms. "When we were just friends we never fought or had tension like this. Sometimes best friends should never cross that line."

"Like you and Jackson?"

"Yes," she murmured, gently biting down on her lower lip. April wanted to kick herself for her last comment because she figured it would backfire on her. "But Jackson never slept with any of my sisters. That's a big deal, Ryan."

"And that makes him better than me?" he retorted.

She shook her head. "He's not better than you and you're not better than him. You two are very different people, who I both just happen to have deep friendships with. Can we… can we just be friends again?"

Ryan softly laughed. "Nobody becomes just friends immediately after a break up," he bitterly answered, shoving his hands inside of his lab coat pockets. "I don't blame you for dumping me, but it still hurts. I have an idea why you're doing this and it's not just because I slept with Kimmie."

"What do you mean?" April asked confused.

"The evidence was standing next to me outside last night," he cryptically implied before stepping out of the elevator. The blonde man turned around to face her. "C'mon, I knew about your history with Jackson prior to us dating and I most definitely know that kind of history doesn't just get locked up in a dungeon never to be heard from again."

"Ryan-"

"No, I get it," he continued. "I suppose I jumped at the opportunity to date you too soon. You were engaged and Avery had just rejected you. A lot of things were going on with you at the time and I kind of threw myself into the picture like it was no big deal. But you're hot, you know? And we grew up together. It was a trust thing."

April sadly smiled at Ryan. "I was attracted to you, though."

He slowly shrugged and sighed. "But I'm pretty sure I showed up in your life again a little too late. Maybe if I reappeared two years ago, things would be different."

She nodded. "You're probably right."

"So after I do the moping, drinking thing at Joe's for a week, we can be friends again," Ryan jokingly said, sharing a laugh with April. "Honestly, though. I don't want to lose you as a friend, given I don't have a lot of them in Seattle right now."

"I would appreciate it if we can stay friends. I mean, I don't have that many friends here either. I'm… kind of just there, but not usually the first person people want to talk to." Walking out of the elevator, April entered the ER with Ryan. "It's the invisibility syndrome. I've always had it."

"You're not invisible," he assured her and half-smiled. "People just haven't taken the time to see what an amazingly beautiful and caring person you are."

As he walked away to tend to his patient, April headed towards the nurses' station to retrieve her tablet. She lazily scanned the various patients listed, her mind drifting elsewhere. Breaking up with Ryan was the right thing to do, she thought. She felt relieved that he hadn't shut her out afterwards or accused her of being a horrible person, which she originally feared would happen.

But she was glad he still wanted to remain friends. There would likely be some awkwardness at first, though. Past history reminded her of that.

* * *

"Alright, Sofia. Your mom gave me instructions for preparing your dinner and thankfully, all I had to do was pop this into the microwave," Jackson proudly stated as he removed leftover spaghetti from the microwave. The 2-year old was waiting at the counter in her booster seat, appearing bored. Her arms and her chin rested on the surface. "I know you're starving, but dinner is almost ready. Just hang on a minute."

Babysitting hadn't started off on a very high note. Picking Sofia up from daycare had been uncomfortable because she initially refused to leave with Jackson. They hardly interacted to begin with, despite being the daughter of his former mentor. The last time he took care of her, he had brought her to Mark at the worst possible time. His boss was coding and whether or not the little girl understood what was happening, she had seen her daddy dying. While he had no idea he would walk into a scene like that, he still felt awful about it, especially now that Sloan was no longer alive.

And Sofia wasn't much of a talker to begin with, at least around people she barely knew. Jackson wasn't a stranger to her, but they certainly didn't have a close bond compared to some of the other doctors who watched her frequently. He and Alex always let their female roommates take care of the babysitting duties. Neither of them ever wanted to be caught dead babysitting. Plus, nobody had trusted them enough to handle the job in the first place.

The plastic surgeon placed spaghetti onto a small, pink plate. He carried the plate and an apple juice box to the counter, setting them in front of Sofia. "Here you go. If the food is too hot, remember to blow on it," he advised and stood across from her on the opposite side of the counter. Instead of digging into her dinner, the toddler simply sat up and stared at her plate. "What's wrong? Your mama said you love spaghetti."

Sofia picked up a chunk of noodles with her hand and launched them at Jackson, nailing him directly in the face. She giggled loudly, while he stared back at her stunned. The quiet girl went from shy to obnoxious within three seconds.

"Umm… okay," he mumbled, picking up a napkin and cleaning off his face. "I wasn't expecting that."

Unfortunately for him, she found it amusing and didn't hesitate to throw more spaghetti at his pretty face. He grew paranoid thinking Sofia had a personal vendetta against him, like she was paying him back for taking her to Mark when he had been on the verge of death. His mentor was probably laughing at him from up above, he thought. He really had no freaking idea how to take care of a child by himself.

About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Jackson immediately rushed towards the front door. His first real babysitting gig had been frustrating, especially since most of Sofia's dinner ended up on his face and clothes than in her mouth.

He opened the door for April, who stared at him in amusement. His gray t-shirt was stained with tomato sauce. "You have a noodle on top of your head," she pointed out before reaching up for the lone noodle on Jackson's head. She handed it to him as she entered Callie's apartment. "How's it going in here?"

"Terrible. She won't stop throwing her dinner at me," Jackson complained, tugging on his t-shirt to study the damage to it. "Do you mind if I disappear for a minute to change out of this shirt? At least it wasn't one of my favorite ones."

"Sure, no problem," the redhead responded, then she sat down beside Sofia with a cheerful grin on her face. "Hi, Sofia! Are you having fun with your Uncle Jackson?"

"No!" Sofia responded and chuckled.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I'll be right back," he murmured, leaving Callie's apartment for his own. After changing t-shirts, he returned to find the toddler eating her spaghetti with her fork. He approached April, eying Sofia curiously. "How did you get her to eat?"

"All I said was, 'Sofia, eat your dinner', and she started eating," she casually answered. April turned around in her seat and smiled at him. "So, where's our dinner?"

Slapping his forehead, he grimaced because he hadn't thought of what to do with dinner. "Okay, so the stove is broken…"

"Jackson, I ordered pizza before I left the hospital. You know, just in case the stove was broken," she teasingly replied. "Don't feel bad. A babysitter can't focus on more than one thing until the kid is in bed and asleep anyway."

Jackson placed his hand against his abdomen, letting out a sigh of relief. It didn't surprise him, though, that April saved his ass. It seemed she always had a backup plan because she knew he couldn't cook. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of Budweiser. "I brought the beer this time," he sheepishly added.

"Wow, you're good at planning ahead," April sarcastically noted.

"When did you become so snarky?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I've been around Cristina long enough. She's contagious." She sipped her beer after he handed a bottle to her. "Did Callie ask you to give Sofia a bath after her dinner?"

Jackson slowly nodded after swallowing a large gulp of beer. "Umm, can you do it?" He cleared his throat and forced himself to laugh. "It's sort of weird for me to do it because I'm a guy and she's not my kid- not that I have perverted thoughts or anything like that… I mean, I've never done the bathing thing before and I'd rather have my first experience with my own kid."

April softly chuckled. "I can see how that would weird you out." She waved her hand at him. "I know babysitting isn't your favorite thing in the world and you were pretty much cornered into doing it, so I don't mind helping out."

"You're really good with children," he complimented. "Like, it's natural for you."

"I grew up with two younger sisters, so I learned at a very young age. I enjoyed helping my mom around the house when Kimmie and Alice were around Sofia's age." The trauma surgeon checked on the 2-year old to see if she was still eating. "It made me want to become a mom one day."

"You'll be a great mother." Jackson set his beer on the kitchen counter and leaned forward, resting his weight on his forearms. He stared intently at April, while her eyes were focused on Sofia. "Actually, I always knew you would be."

She glanced back at him, slightly frowning. "Jackson, when I was relieved not to be pregnant I… I wasn't celebrating the fact that we wouldn't have to get married. It's not that I didn't want to marry you-"

"I know. I realize that now," he insisted, lightly tapping his fingers against the counter. "Maybe we should've talked about what to do if you _weren't_ pregnant. We were so caught up in finding out if you were that we never considered the possibility it was just a scare."

"Well, I didn't help much with my freakouts."

"It wasn't all your fault, April. We were both confused about a lot of things, but I just wanted everything to be fine and drama free. We were far from that," Jackson noted, shaking his head. "And I hardly tried to see things from your perspective. I was kind of an ass, really."

April pushed back strands of hair behind her ear, her eyes staring down at her shoes. "I'm not sure either of us truly knew what we wanted from each other. I think we cared more about our own personal needs than figuring it all out together," she suggested. "So we fell apart."

He took a deep breath and sighed. "I wish we hadn't."

She looked back at him, raising her eyebrow. "Wish we hadn't what?"

"Fallen apart." The room fell silent as both doctors stared directly into each other's eyes. It was the most honest conversation they had had since Jackson confessed to April he had been sleeping with Stephanie. The doorbell rang, interrupting their conversation. He walked towards the front door pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. "That's probably the pizza. I've got this one."

Shifting in her seat, she noticed Sofia had finished eating and playfully applauded. "Good job! You ate everything!" April unstrapped her from the booster seat and picked her up. "Let's get you cleaned up now, okay?"

Jackson brought the pizza into the kitchen just as April carried Sofia into the bathroom. "Hey, do you want me to wait for you?" he called out.

"You go ahead. I'll eat after her bath."

He sat alone at the kitchen counter quietly eating a slice of a vegetarian pizza. The sounds of April's high-pitched voice, Sofia's giggles and water splashing echoed throughout the apartment. For a brief moment, he imagined they weren't babysitting. Instead, he pictured their lives as a family with the kid he wanted to raise together if she had been pregnant. They probably would have struggled in the beginning, but he was confident everything would have worked out because he loved her.

And he was positive she loved him too. They just needed to say it out loud.

After April gave Sofia a bath, she dressed her in purple pajamas and brought her into the living room. "All clean. How about you hang out with Uncle Jackson, so I can eat some dinner?"

Jackson wiped his hands on the front of his jeans and took Sofia from April. "I know how to help you fall asleep faster," he claimed, carefully holding her over his shoulder. He started running around the living room making her squeak and laugh loudly. "Superwoman to the rescue!"

Watching the two play while she ate, the redhead smiled as he made airplane noises with his mouth. Sofia quickly found the plastic surgeon's fun game entertaining, spreading her arms out to pretend she was flying. He raised her over his head, dipped her close to the floor and finished it off by collapsing onto his back on the couch while he held her above him.

"More! More!" Sofia excitedly squealed. "Again!"

"Alright, one more and then it's time for bed."

Jackson spent the next five minutes playing superheroes with Sofia again. By then, he had exhausted her and he handed her off to April, who read her a book in her bedroom until she fell asleep. Closing the door behind her, she sat down on the couch beside him, leaving some inches of space in between them. "She's asleep now."

"I'm glad she softened up to me," he said, yawning afterwards. "But now, I'm tired too. Hopefully, Torres comes home soon."

"Umm… I broke up with Ryan," she blurted out, catching his full attention. April chewed on her lower lip and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "Not just because he slept with Kimmie. Other factors too."

"And you're okay?"

She quickly nodded. "Yeah. I did feel bad about it, but I also knew it was the right thing to do."

Jackson scooted closer to April, resting his hand on top of hers. "I love you," he confidently admitted. Her head shot up with wide eyes. "I… I should've told you this sooner. And I'm not talking about the night of the storm. Before that, even before Matthew and Stephanie came along. At the time, I had these deep feelings that I had trouble translating into words, but I know what those feelings mean now. I'm sorry I waited this long to tell you. I was afraid then, but I'm not now. I can't lose you again. Me and you? I want this. Also, if you go on another week-long vacation again, I'm coming with you."

Staring back at him with tears in her eyes, April laughed at his last comment. She was relieved to know that her best friend felt the same exact way she did about him. She placed her palms against Jackson's cheeks. "I-I love you too," she answered softly, her voice partially cracking as a tear trickled down her face. "I love you, Jackson."

He pressed his lips against hers, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her closer. Kissing her again was like winning the Harper Avery in his mind. The feeling was indescribable. He was kissing the woman he loved, the one he hoped he would spend the rest of his life with. His right hand traveled up her back and gently grasped her auburn locks, while deepening their kiss. Smiling against his lips, April's fingers dug into Jackson's scalp causing him to groan and squeeze her hip.

Neither of them heard the front door open and close until a playful whistle alarmed them. Callie stood nearby, grinning at the reunited couple. "My daughter's still alive, right?" she jokingly asked. "I'm also not surprised Kepner showed up to cover your ass, Avery."

"O-oh, yes. She just fell asleep about five minutes ago," an embarrassed April replied, standing up from the couch and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sofia was good. And Jackson had no problems whatsoever."

"Yup. Even ate all of her dinner," he added, though partially lying about the one-sided food fight.

The orthopedic surgeon nodded as she approached the couch. She patted the top of Jackson's head and chuckled. "Thank you. Now get out of here, you lovebirds."

After they gathered their belongings and said their goodbyes, Jackson escorted April out of Callie's apartment. They stood in front of his own place, but he wasn't as eager to kiss her like he did minutes earlier. "Umm… I'm not sure what your thoughts are on sex now, but I'm not going to pressure you if you don't want to tonight."

"I don't. I want us to go out on a real date first," she truthfully stated. "I've learned to accept the fact that I'm no longer a virgin and I can't pretend I wish I still was. That would be a big, fat lie."

"I understand. I want to take you out on a date too. You deserve that." He unlocked his front door, then he bashfully smiled at her. "Will you spend the night with me anyway? I mean, sleep next to each other? Talk some more first?"

"That we can do," she agreed, happily taking his hand and leading him into his apartment. "We have a lot to talk about."


	10. Fighting the Urges

**Thanks for the reviews! And sorry for the wait. Had some writer's block issues, but thanks for being patient :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

They talked for hours about everything. No holding back or using metaphors to describe how they felt. Complete honesty. It was like a humungous weight had been lifted from Jackson and April's shoulders. They could look at each other in the eye without assuming one was lying to the other. Their feelings were out in the open. There was no reason to hide them anymore.

Every problem that had once gotten in the way was discussed. Her current beliefs about premarital sex, his ability to be sensitive to her feelings and vice versa. They even predicted how Catherine would possibly react to them being back together. Marriage wasn't an option yet. They hadn't considered themselves a dating couple when they were sleeping together and both agreed to do it right. He wanted to take her out to dinner, surprise her with flowers for no particular reason, be a gentleman to his girlfriend.

Lack of communication had led to their downfall. They refused to make that mistake again. If either of them had a problem, they promised to talk about it.

The last time they shared a bed, it was after another round of sex that was typically followed by one of April's guilt-filled rants. And it wasn't like they actually slept in the bed. Not much cuddling happened. The routine used to be undress, sex, redress, return to work. Hardly screamed romantic.

Jackson's eyes slowly fluttered open as he awoke from his sleep. One arm was draped around April's waist, while she lay curled up against his side and continued to snooze away. Her forearm rested on top of his abdomen and her hand lightly clenched his t-shirt. He smiled as he watched her sleep for a minute, letting it all sink in. If this was how his mornings would be from now on, he could die a happy man.

He moved aside strands of her hair that covered her face and gently kissed the top of her head. It was enough to arouse her from her sleep. She snuggled closer to him, the tip of her nose brushing against his neck.

"Good morning, beautiful," the plastic surgeon happily murmured.

"Mmm… good morning," she softly moaned, smiling as she rubbed Jackson's chest through the thin fabric of his t-shirt. Sleeping beside him felt amazing with his muscular arms keeping her close the entire night. "What time is it?"

Jackson briefly peered at the clock on his bedside table. "It's twenty after eight. Even on our day off, we can't sleep in," he jokingly said. He faced April again and ran his hand up and down her side. "Did you sleep well? I wasn't smothering you?"

The redhead chuckled and shook her head. "You didn't smother me at all." She grinned as she peppered kisses along his jaw line. The previous night mainly consisted of talking and not much else. She was thankful they finally had a deep and meaningful conversation and while they agreed to hold off on sex until their first official date, some teasing in the morning wasn't breaking the rules.

"What do you think you're doing?" he playfully scolded her.

"I missed kissing you," she innocently replied, moving down to his neck. "Do you not want me to kiss you?"

He shut his eyes, trying to fight his urges. However, the soft touch of April's lips were driving him insane. And it didn't help that she wore one of his Harvard t-shirts to sleep in. It was the first shirt she had pulled out from his drawer and in his opinion, she looked incredibly hot in crimson. Far better than Yale blue, he thought.

Her hand was roaming down towards sensitive territory. He was aware of the fact that she knew exactly what she was doing to him. Seeing the trauma surgeon with another man had been painful enough, but actually being with her and knowing she was purposely torturing him felt worse.

Jackson opened his eyes just as April's hand reached the waistband of his boxers. He immediately stopped her and groaned. "You're killing me, you know that?"

In one swift maneuver, the pretty boy flipped her over onto her back and pressed his hands on the mattress to hold himself above her. "I figured you'd enjoy it," she insisted, smirking at him as she bit down on her lower lip.

"I'm not even gonna talk anymore," he declared before lowering himself to kiss her.

Jackson hungrily took April's lips, while she grasped the back of his head and returned the kiss. It took all of their will power not to pounce on each other the previous night. For once, he restrained himself, but he made no promises he would behave in the morning. She clearly hadn't either. He moved away from her lips, kissing his way down to her neck as he slipped a hand underneath her shirt.

She squirmed beneath him, pushing his hand down just as he was about to reach her breast. "Wait, wait, wait."

He lifted his head to look back at her. "What's wrong?"

"I like what you're doing. I really do, but…" April breathlessly brushed aside hair from her forehead, then she cupped Jackson's cheeks and smiled. "…not yet. I know you want to and trust me, so do I. Date night, remember?"

"When _is_ date night?" he questioned curiously.

"Umm… tonight?"

"Tonight would be perfect," he immediately agreed. The sooner their first date happened, the better. It didn't matter to him anymore that his brain was thinking like a sex driven 16-year old. He just wanted all of her, especially now that he _did_ have her. "Remember to wear something sexy."

April playfully groaned. "And I was hoping I could finally wear my new overalls and straw hat for the occasion," she sarcastically replied, eliciting a laugh from Jackson.

"Is it wrong of me to start fantasizing about you as the farmer's dirty daughter?" the plastic surgeon suggestively asked. She smacked his shoulder in response, making him laugh again. "You brought up the farm attire first. Can you blame me? I mean, if all you're wearing are overalls and nothing else…"

"Jackson, you know that's not what I meant!" She giggled as she pushed him off of her and climbed out of bed. "I'm going to use the bathroom and then make some breakfast – if you have any food in your fridge."

Watching April stretch her arms above her head, Jackson immediately took notice of the light pink panties peeking out from underneath his Harvard t-shirt. He smugly grinned as his eyes slowly scanned her legs and backside. She was no longer the mousy woman he met during their intern year. And he most certainly never expected to fall in love with her back then.

The redhead glanced back at him and he sheepishly grabbed a pillow to hide his face like a child who had been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. She simply laughed as she walked into his bathroom.

After freshening up, she left the bedroom to cook breakfast for the both of them. Jackson spent a few minutes in the bathroom before he joined her in the kitchen. "Oh, so I got a text from Libby and she wants me to take her and Kimmie to the Space Needle after lunch. Want to come?" she enthusiastically questioned, turning away from the stove to look at her boyfriend. He stood beside her wearing nothing but his boxers after having removed the t-shirt he wore to sleep. "Really, Jackson?"

He briefly gazed down at his bare torso, then he smirked at her. "What? Don't pretend you've never seen me like this before."

"I know what you're trying to do," she accusingly said and lightly slapped his chest with the spatula in her hand. "Would you like your eggs scrambled or sunny side up?"

"Scrambled, please." Jackson leaned back against the kitchen counter as he watched April make breakfast. "Did I already tell you that you look incredibly hot in my Harvard shirt?"

"Are you joining my sisters and I or not? I need to buy tickets." the trauma surgeon reverted back to the original topic. "Think of it as a warm up for our date tonight. I mean, I'm not exactly sure how it would be a warm up since my sisters will be with us, but at least we'll be spending the entire day together."

"Of course I'll go." He stood behind her, placing his hands on her hips as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Why would I want to spend the majority of my day without you? I've done that for far too long."

April smiled as Jackson nuzzled his nose against her neck. The man knew how to sweet talk his way into anything, but she reminded herself that if he continued to throw sappy comments at her, she would never be able to leave his apartment. She gently nudged his stomach with her elbow. "Okay, you're on timeout until I finish breakfast," she humorously replied and pointed at the couch. "Sit there and wait for me."

"Fine, fine," he groaned, pulling away from her. "I'll be good."

Jackson followed April's instructions, slumping down onto the couch like he had been punished. But even from the living room, he watched her stand by the stove as she softly hummed a tune to herself. He couldn't help but continue to stare at her. At least now, he could get away with the creepy staring thing he loved to do.

* * *

"Okay, Libby said she and Kimmie would be waiting for us in front of the hotel," April noted after reading the latest text message from her older sister. She and Jackson were on their way to pick the other two Kepners up and the latter opted to drive them. "You're not nervous, are you?"

"No. Why would I be? I already met them," he calmly answered, smiling at the redhead. Deep down, though, Jackson felt slightly nervous about seeing her sisters again. Meeting the family as April's barely a day old boyfriend would be different. He hoped they hadn't preferred Ryan over him, not that their opinions topped hers. Still, he would rather feel welcome than like an outcast. "You think they'll grill me even more _because_ I'm with you now?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. My sisters just love to talk a lot, so I hope you won't feel overwhelmed."

He softly chuckled. Their first meeting had already included intimidating questions. "I'll be alright. Both of them seem pretty cool to me. If they weren't talking bad about me before, then I'm optimistic."

April pointed at the window as she spotted her sisters standing by the curb. "There they are," she chirped, waving at the two women when they saw her as well. Jackson temporarily parked, so they could get into the car. "Hey, I brought Jackson. Is that okay?"

Libby smirked as the pretty boy turned around and greeted them. "Sure, but what about Ryan?"

"Oh, umm… we- well, I broke up with him yesterday," she replied, forcing a laugh. "But we agreed to stay friends. No hard feelings… sort of. Anyway, I am dating Jackson now. Last night, we talked about everything and we know how we feel about each other, so no more confusion."

Kimmie clapped her hands together and placed them underneath her chin. "Aww, you're in love!" she gushed. "We figured his feelings were much deeper than he let on and even though you refused to openly admit it to us during the cruise, we totally knew you loved him too."

"Took ya long enough," Libby scoffed.

"Lib, you didn't know the complete story," April retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Well, whose fault is that? We tried to pry the details out of you, but you kept almost everything tightlipped except for the part about how Jackson rejected you. Then, you were bawling and moaning, 'Jackson doesn't love me', more than once," she recalled.

"_Libby_," the trauma surgeon sternly said through gritted teeth. Of all things her sister could use to embarrass her in front of Jackson, she chose the worst one in her mind. April briefly glanced at him and he appeared to be fighting back a smile as he drove. She furrowed her eyebrows at Libby, who simply shrugged.

Her younger sister snickered before she asked, "So how many times have you two been to the Space Needle?"

"Not often, to be honest. We don't get a lot of down time to tour," Jackson politely answered and lightly nudged April's arm. "Intern year was the worst, remember? We literally had no life, so I never actually visited the Space Needle until midway through our second year. I'd say I've been there four times since I moved here."

"What about you, April?"

"Umm…" Fidgeting with her seatbelt, April bit down on her lower lip. "I actually haven't been inside at all."

Kimmie let out a laugh. "Are you serious? You've lived here for almost a decade and you've _never_ gone to the most iconic landmark in Seattle?" she questioned in disbelief. "Where the hell have you been?"

The agitated redhead turned her head to look back at her sisters. "The elevator freaks me out, okay?" she snapped. "C'mon, you two know heights aren't my favorite thing either. One look outside of the window as it ascends to the top and I'll faint."

"You know, you could just not look," Libby teasingly suggested and tapped the back of Jackson's seat. "And hey, you've got him to block your view. He'll make sure you can't see a thing."

Jackson grasped April's hand and gently squeezed it. "Yeah, don't worry about it. You'll be fine," he assured her. There were a few seconds of silence, then he asked, "Really? You've never been to the top? I could've sworn you, me, Charles and Reed went together."

"Clearly, you forgot about how I chickened out and you three left me behind," she responded in monotone and pursed her lips. "Somehow, it's turned into Pick On April Day, which used to be almost every day on the farm."

"Don't get all pouty," Libby dismissively replied. "How about we talk about something fun? Like… now that you two are dating, will you be doing more _dating_ things? And I mean, besides sex."

Jackson noticed April remained unamused by her sisters' teasing and decided to answer for them. "Well, we're having dinner tonight for our first official date." He smiled at the woman sitting beside him. "I made reservations at that Italian restaurant you wanted to try."

"The one on Pike or Pine?" she asked curiously.

He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel when they stopped at a light. "I'm fairly positive it's one of those. Whichever one is supposed to be romantic and stuff."

"Buy her flowers," Kimmie coughed, drawing a suspicious look from Jackson. She brightly grinned back at him. "I'm sorry. Something seems to be stuck in my throat. Like a thorn from a _rose_."

"You are so not slick," Libby chuckled.

April softly smiled. "I like roses."

Jackson kissed the back of her hand. "Then, I will buy you roses before I pick you up."

When they arrived at the Space Needle, April could feel her heart pounding faster as they inched closer to the elevators. Her palms were clammy, forcing herself to continuously dry them against her jeans. But Jackson promised to block her view and he did exactly that. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms over her shoulders as they rode the elevator to the top. She eventually calmed down considering she enjoyed cuddling with him. Libby and Kimmie didn't hesitate to tease them, to their sister's dismay.

They spent fifteen minutes at the observation deck snapping pictures and taking in the panoramic view of Seattle. Libby made sure to take as many photos as she could of April and her new-old boyfriend to show off to their parents when she returned to Ohio. She could see on the redhead's face that she was sincerely happy. And the shallow side of her was proud that April snagged herself a good looking man.

While her sisters were distracted taking pictures of each other, Jackson decided to use the opportunity to separate themselves from them. "Let's go before they see us," he whispered into April's ear.

"Go where?" April stared at him confused as he took her hand and dragged her away from Libby and Kimmie. "Jackson, where are we going? And slow down a bit. You're gonna make me trip."

"On our way to the deck, I saw this closet that we could sneak into-"

His other half suddenly gasped. "What? No! This- this is a public place with _cameras_." She huffed when he ignored her protests and continued to walk. "Jackson, my sisters will be looking for us any minute now."

"Which is why we only have a short amount of time to be alone together," the plastics man pointed out, stopping in front of a supply closet. He casually scanned their surroundings before opening the door and leading her inside. Flipping on the light switch, Jackson placed his hands against April's lower back and kissed her lips. "Just five minutes, I promise."

She really found it difficult to turn down his advances. It was much more complicated in the past when neither of them knew what their relationship meant and the enormous amount of guilt she felt every time they had sex hadn't helped. Now that she knew what she wanted, it was easier to succumb to his flirtations and kisses. In the back of her mind, though, she remained paranoid over getting caught by a security guard.

But dammit, he was such a fine kisser. One hand was lightly clutching the back of her neck, the other moved down south and grabbed her ass. April wondered how they would be able to behave themselves during their date if they already acted like horny teenagers during a freaking day trip with her sisters.

"Okay, okay. It's been five minutes," she bashfully stated, pulling away from him to adjust her hair. "My sisters are definitely searching for us now. I bet they even asked somebody at the information kiosk to shout out our names on the PA system."

"You're just paranoid." Jackson softly laughed as he slowly opened the door. "They probably didn't even mind that we snuck away for a few minutes. You know what? I'm sure they didn't notice we were gone."

Both surgeons froze when they were greeted by Libby and Kimmie's mischievous grins after stepping out of the closet. April's cheeks immediately turned beet red and she partially hid her face behind Jackson's shoulder. How in the hell did they know where they went?

"Oh, you frisky rascals," the oldest Kepner girl playfully teased them.

Kimmie covered her mouth as she giggled. "Imagine if Mom and Dad were here."

Libby approached the couple, tugging April away from the pretty boy. "Jackson, how about you go take a walk and… _cool down_? We'd like our sister to accompany us to the ladies' restroom."

"I-I I don't need to use the restroom," April insisted, but it didn't matter what she said because both of her sisters sandwiched her and escorted her to the nearest women's restroom. The first restroom they found was surprisingly empty, so her older sister locked the door for privacy. "What are you doing?"

"First rule of sneaking away – don't let the people you're trying to hide from see you leave," Kimmie noted, sharing a laugh with Libby. She threw her arm over the trauma surgeon's shoulders and smiled gleefully. "We had no idea you were that type of person now."

"What do you mean?" she fearfully asked.

"The type who's willing to have sex anywhere you please!"

April waved her arms with wide eyes. "Whoa, whoa! Jackson and I weren't- he just wanted to makeout. It's been so long since we- well, he's kind of impatient. Actually, nevermind. It's awkward talking about this with you two."

She folded her arms and ducked her head in embarrassment. Sex was hardly a topic she discussed with her sisters. They could talk about anything else except that. She had been a late bloomer, so whenever they used to bring up sex she always felt out of place and uncomfortable.

"Ah, so it was Jackson's idea? That man completely kisses the ground you walk on, it's adorable. And you've grown up so much," Libby cheerfully replied. She could still remember the days when staring at fully clothed boys was a major issue for her younger sister. "I mean, look at you. In high school, you could barely mumble a word to a boy. Now you've made one into your own sexual bitch."

"That is _not_ what he is!" April angrily responded, glaring at her sisters as they laughed at her. "I'm not in love with him because of his performance in bed. Why do you keep making fun of me? Do you not like Jackson?"

Kimmie sighed as she patted the redhead's shoulder. "Oh, Apes. We make fun of you because you make it easy. You should know that by now. Also, Jackson seems perfect for you. He cares about you in the way a man who loves you should." She playfully fanned herself. "And those freaking eyes…"

"Do you think Mom and Dad would approve?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem," Libby confidently answered and smiled. "Regardless of the rough patch you two went through, the guy's been your best friend for years. Mom's a sucker for that kind of love story."

"And if they don't, just tell them to look at Jackson's eyes. They'll be hypnotized for life," Kimmie suggested, chuckling after April slapped her arm. "What?"

"What is it with you and his eyes?"

"They're so gorgeous it should be illegal!" She watched the trauma surgeon unlock the door and leave the restroom, forcing her and Libby to follow her. "It's unfair, I tell ya!"

* * *

Being separated for a few hours had been almost unbearable for Jackson. Their dinner reservations were set for 7:30 PM, which gave April more than enough time to get ready for their date. He wanted their night to be flawless, so he wore everything that he considered was his best attire. Dress shirt, pants, shoes… underwear. Even the cologne mattered to him. Enough to draw her in, but not too much that she's required to breathe through her mouth because the scent was too powerful.

On his way to her apartment, the plastic surgeon stopped by the flower shop to buy a dozen roses. Jackson was tempted to purchase a box of chocolates for later, but he thought he may be trying too hard to impress her. It wasn't like he was going on a first date with a woman he just met. Truthfully, the box of chocolates were too cliché for him.

But it was their first real date after all. He simply wanted everything to go well – and finish with a night full of hot sex.

A part of him wanted to kick himself for constantly thinking about sex. It had been agonizing enough that Libby and Kimmie purposely clung onto April like a leech post-makeout session to torture him. They were likely being overprotective sisters, he thought. Then again, he sensed they liked him since neither sister had given him one dirty look during their time together. That was definitely a good sign.

Prior to knocking on April's door, Jackson unbuttoned the first three buttons of his white dress shirt. Holding the bouquet of roses in one hand, he placed the other against the doorway trying to act suave for when she opened the door for him. He quickly shook his head and stood upright.

"No, that's stupid," he muttered to himself and took a deep breath. "Just act cool. She's probably nervous too, but don't make a fool of yourself."

Finally, he gently knocked on the door and hid the roses behind his back. The redhead answered the door wearing a black strapless dress, one that showed off her shoulders, her legs… her cleavage. April's hair was partially pulled up and the red lipstick had always been a turn on for him, but his eyes refused to leave the main attraction. That freaking cleavage. He blamed the dress.

Strapless and tight.

"Jackson?" she called out, interrupting his perverted thoughts. April choked back a laugh when her boyfriend dropped the bouquet and scrambled to pick it up. "Everything alright? I mean, is this dress okay or should I change?"

"It's… nice," Jackson slowly responded. He cleared his throat after he caught himself staring at her cleavage again. Almost forgetting about the roses, he extended his arm out to her. "Oh, and here are your roses, my lady."

She smiled as she retrieved the bouquet from him. "Thank you. They're lovely. Let me just put these in a vase, then we can leave."

He quietly entered the apartment, closing the door behind him. Just watching April move around in her dress gave him horrible, yet delightful thoughts. But he reminded himself that there was a dinner reservation to fulfill and he felt like a douche for wanting to skip it altogether.

And while he considered himself to be a pervert at that moment, she developed her own set of dirty thoughts. April was glad Jackson had bought her roses because she needed a brief break from staring at him in his fancy clothes. The man looked amazingly handsome in anything, including his scrubs, but he knew how to dress up well. His cologne smelled wonderful too.

She covered herself with a coat and approached him with her purse. "We can leave now."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea," he timidly replied, interlocking their fingers together as he led her out of the apartment. Jackson was thankful April wore a coat over her dress. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on driving to the restaurant. He would have been too occupied taking numerous peeks at her cleavage.

"Are you hungry? Because I'm starving," the trauma surgeon inquired, while Jackson drove. "And you'll probably laugh at me for this, but I tried on at least fifteen different dresses for tonight. I had a hard time deciding what to wear."

"Trust me, you look _very_ good," he murmured. "You chose wisely that's for sure."

April grinned widely back at him. "And you look very handsome. I can't believe we're on a real date," she excitedly said. "And it's not awkward at all. I honestly thought we would've pounced on each other the second we saw each other dressed up."

Jackson glanced at her curiously after he stopped at a light. "Really? Because to be honest, all I've been thinking about since I picked you up was removing that dress," he admitted and sighed. "I know. It's pathetic, but I can't help myself. You drive me insane, especially when you're wearing _that_."

"Oh, thank goodness." She rested her hand against her chest, letting out a sigh of relief. "I thought I was being ridiculous for thinking the same thoughts as you."

He tightly gripped the steering wheel, fighting the urge to turn the car around and drive back to her apartment. "Umm, how about we reschedule the dinner part of our date?"

The red light would be changing to green any second now. April gently bit down on her lower lip as she contemplated her decision. There was no use fighting it, she thought. They both knew how the date would end regardless if they had dinner or not. "Take me home," she impatiently blurted out. Jackson caught her off-guard when he made an illegal U-turn after the light turned green. "Jackson, don't kill us!"

"Sorry," he sheepishly replied.

They had only been about five minutes away from April's apartment when they agreed to change their plans. She swung the front door open before spinning around and kissing Jackson. He pushed her coat off of her shoulders, while she returned the favor.

"Some date, huh?" he mumbled against her lips, his hands reaching for the zipper on the back of her dress.

"Best date ever," she amusingly said in between kisses and began unbuttoning his shirt. April giggled as Jackson fumbled with her zipper and cursed under his breath when he failed to pull it down. "Don't rip this. It's fairly new."

He temporarily pulled away from her to remove his shirt, kicking his shoes off at the same time. "Did you staple yourself into this dress?" the pretty boy jokingly complained after he continued to have trouble with the zipper. "Ah, screw it. I'll break through eventually."

April squealed when Jackson lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom. Their date didn't go exactly the way they had planned, but she didn't mind just this once. The carnival had been waiting for her return and she couldn't contain her excitement anymore.


	11. Head Over Heels

**Thanks for the reviews! Well, folks. We've reached the end of this story. Thank you for reading/reviewing and I really hope you enjoyed it, angst and all :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jackson had never actually been to a carnival. So when he heard April talking to herself about returning to the carnival, he initially thought he misunderstood her words. Why would she be thinking about carnivals during sex?

But he quickly realized his girlfriend had been referring to one of the many metaphors she occasionally invented whenever she struggled to speak straightforwardly. The metaphors used to bother him because she always seemed to be talking about their confusing relationship in a negative light, but the carnival idea was amusing. He may not have visited a real carnival, but he certainly enjoyed the metaphorical kind.

They rode almost all of the rides that night and he enjoyed every second of it.

He was definitely smitten. It took him a half an hour to say his goodbyes and leave April's apartment in the morning. If the plastic surgeon hadn't been forced to go home and change clothes, he would have arrived at the hospital with her. For at least an hour, they were separated again. While he hardly wanted to feel like that guy who couldn't live without his other half, that was exactly how he felt when he walked into the attendings locker room and she wasn't there yet.

Perhaps it was a good thing April hadn't arrived. Jackson believed it would have been impossible to change into his scrubs since he would be too busy watching her change into hers. He walked to his cubby and began removing his street clothes.

Alex entered the locker room, immediately approaching his friend. "Dude, I sent you a text last night asking if you wanted to get a drink at Joe's," he greeted him somewhat agitatedly. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah, I got it… this morning," the pretty boy replied with a smirk. His cell phone had been on silent all night, for obvious reasons. Any interruptions would have killed the mood between him and April. No pages either, which was a blessing. "Sorry. I was busy."

"Busy doing what?" The pediatric surgeon furrowed his eyebrows after he noticed a visible hickey on Jackson's neck. He pointed at the dark spot and laughed out loud. "Avery, you got laid, huh? Freakin' A, it's about time."

"More than once," he gloated, grinning at his coworker.

Alex pursed his lips and smiled when he connected the dots. "You and Kepner?"

Jackson proudly nodded. "That means you can stop calling me Mr. No Balls, Karev. My balls are well-rounded and energetic now," he quipped.

"Wow, don't ever say something like that about your balls again. It's weird." He removed his jacket and threw it into his cubby. "So, uhh, what about Abbott? Did she cheat on him or what?"

"No, she broke up with him a couple days ago."

"And now, you two are together and all is well?"

"Exactly," Jackson happily answered, pulling his t-shirt over his head. He smiled gleefully as he thought about April again. "She loves me, I love her. We straightened everything out, so no more complicated problems – at least for now. I feel like we're finally on the same page and we're happy. You have no idea how hard it was to leave her this morning."

Alex rolled his eyes, softly chuckling. "You're so whipped."

"Make fun of me all you want, but my spirits are too high and invulnerable to kill today," he nonchalantly replied while he tied the strings of his scrub pants. The redhead he had been eager to see again walked into the locker room and the plastics man's face lit up even more. "Good morning, Dr. Kepner."

April spun around after setting her purse inside of her cubby. "Good morning, Dr. Avery," she bashfully greeted her boyfriend back. She forced herself to face the other way to hide her blushing cheeks. Jackson was topless, giving her a clear view of his chiseled upper body. "Oh, and hi, Alex."

"You guys are lame," Alex sneered. "The formal greetings aren't fooling me. Avery already spilled the beans, but seriously. I guess I'm happy for you or whatever. It's nice to know his balls grew back."

Jackson shot their colleague a look, then he approached April from behind. He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "That's okay, right? I mean, everybody's bound to find out anyway."

"It's fine. There's no reason to keep us a secret," the trauma surgeon replied, placing her hands on top of his. "Does your mother know yet? I'm sure she'll be thrilled about us."

"I haven't seen her yet, but this may be one of the few times I'm looking forward to talking to my mother," he jokingly said and tickled her neck with the tip of his nose. He firmly held her against his body and took in the scent of her lavender shampoo. "Did you miss me?"

April playfully rolled her eyes at his flirtatious advancements. "If I say no, will you throw a tantrum and break up with me?"

Gently kissing her neck and moving up to her jaw line, Jackson stopped at the edge of her lips. "No, because I know you would be lying to me," he huskily whispered, slightly tilting her head sideways to kiss her. "By the way, I'm a huge fan of the carnival. Actually, I've always been. Just didn't realize how big of a fan I was until last night."

She turned around to face him, running a finger along his chest. "Oh, yeah? What's your favorite ride?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure if there's a specific name for it, but from what I remember I had a very nice view of your-"

Alex grimaced after overhearing his friends speak metaphorically dirty to each other. "For Christ's sake! Get a room!" he groaned, taking his lab coat from his cubby after changing into his scrubs. The pediatric surgeon scowled at the couple as he headed for the exit. "Not even five minutes and I'm already sick of you two."

Jackson snickered after their coworker rushed out of the locker room. He was even more grateful that they were alone now. "I was just going to say _eyes_, but whatever," the pretty boy quipped, eliciting a loud laugh from his girlfriend. "Can I buy you some coffee?"

"Sure. I would love some coffee," April chirped.

He rested his hands on the redhead's hips with a mischievous grin on his face. "Okay, then what do I get in return?"

Hopping up onto her tip toes, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "One of these," she softly said before kissing his other cheek. "And one of those…"

"How about right here?" he asked, puckering his lips and pointing at them.

April's arms snaked over Jackson's shoulders as her lips grazed his. She had hoped to avoid him in the locker room that morning because she knew it would be difficult for her to resist him, especially when he purposely kept his shirt off and worked his charm on her. Her guilt was different now. Rather than feeling guilty for sleeping with him in the past, she felt guilty for wanting to be with him all day instead of saving lives. Harmless guilt, she preferred to call it.

She grasped the back of his head, pressing her lips against his, albeit a little too hard. The muffled groan that escaped his mouth made her giggle. Sometimes she didn't realize how aggressive she could actually be.

In the back of her mind, the trauma surgeon knew she should be changing into her scrubs and reporting downstairs to the pit. However, if there weren't any urgent traumas coming in and her pager wasn't ringing off the hook, she could spare some minutes with Jackson.

And his tongue.

But their intimate moment was fittingly interrupted by Ryan's presence. He appeared disgruntled as he pretended to ignore the couple when they pulled away from each other. April had turned her back to him to hide her embarrassment, while the plastic surgeon retreated back to his cubby. Now, she was feeling another type of guilt. She hadn't seen her former best friend, turned boyfriend, turned ex-boyfriend since breaking up with him two days ago. Clearly, he was hurt and publicly flaunting her reignited relationship with Jackson was a slap in the face.

"Good morning," the orthopedic surgeon muttered.

"Good morning, Ryan," she casually greeted him back. The tension in the locker room quickly became unbearable, so April gathered her scrubs from her cubby and decided to change privately in the restroom.

* * *

Jackson managed to buy April her coffee, track her down in the ER and ride the elevator upstairs in time for one of many boring board meetings scheduled for the day. It took time for his co-board members to warm up to him as the leader of the hospital, but they seemed to respect him more now than when they first learned that the Harper Avery Foundation anointed him as the representative of their ownership. Although he had gotten the hang of running the hospital, it still wasn't his preference. He considered himself lucky if he was given the opportunity to suture a small wound in the pit.

Waiting for him inside of the conference room were the rest of the board members. It also marked Meredith's first day back at work from maternity leave, so he decided to bring a box of doughnuts along with him to celebrate her return. They normally didn't care for the sugary treat, but he was in too good of a mood to feel offended if nobody wanted any. More doughnuts for him.

"Hey, uhh… I know I'm running a little late, but-"

"It's no problem, Avery," Callie waved off his excuse and winked at him. "We know why. No need to explain."

Setting the doughnuts on the conference table, Jackson opened it and pushed it towards the center. "Okay," he slowly answered before taking his seat. "And welcome back, Grey. I brought those doughnuts especially for you."

"Thank you," Meredith responded with a smile. "I'm glad to be here again."

"Alright," he sighed, rummaging through his stack of papers. "First topic on the agenda-"

"So you and Kepner are doing it again, huh?" Cristina teasingly inquired with a smirk.

Jackson softly laughed as he stared at his blank notepad. "That's not in our topic of discussion, Yang."

"Oh, you and April got back together?" Meredith asked curiously. "Since when?"

"Since I caught them making out on my couch the other night while they babysat Sofia," Callie answered, grinning widely at the bashful plastic surgeon. "And for the record, I didn't spread the news. Karev put you two on blast after you apparently tortured him with your sex talk."

"Let's get back on topic, everybody," Jackson ordered, fighting back a smile. He didn't mind bragging about his newly restored relationship, but board meetings were meant to be serious not a place for gossiping like teenagers. And he was thankful Catherine didn't attend their meetings because she would have been a never ending chatter box that he wouldn't be able to shut up. "C'mon, the faster we get through this, the sooner we can leave."

Arizona dismissively waved her hand and smiled brightly, which was a rare sight to see. "Don't hide your happiness, Avery. I'm not."

He exchanged glances between Callie and Arizona with a raised eyebrow. They were actually sitting beside each other without wanting to rip each other's throats out. Their past meetings in the last couple of months were more uncomfortable when they weren't speaking to each other. The Latina woman used to sit at one end of the table, while her wife was seated on the opposite end.

Those "very important plans" that Torres had mentioned when she asked him to babysit Sofia made more sense now. She must have been meeting with the pediatric surgeon to discuss the fate of their marriage. It was obvious to him their get-together had gone well. The fact that they were making googly eyes at each other gave it away even more.

"I'm happy, I promise. But we're still stuck with this board junk, so let's get moving," Jackson murmured.

"Ah, I get it. Pretty Boy wants to hurry up and get this meeting over with, so he can partake in a special consult with Kepner," Cristina jokingly responded and shared a laugh with their colleagues. She reached for a doughnut and pretended to wave royally at him. "Go ahead, boss."

At least the teasing wasn't mean spirited, he thought. It seemed they were all happy for him and April, so he wasn't going to complain. The hour couldn't go by faster for Jackson. As soon as it ended, he bolted out the door before the other doctors could tease him again. Checking his watch, he had two hours to spare before a scheduled facelift. He knew exactly where he wanted to be until then.

As he waited for the elevator, another surgeon stood beside him. Ryan took a deep breath and placed his hands on his hips. "You and me need to talk, man," he stated in a serious tone.

"I'm a little busy at the moment," Jackson lied, avoiding eye contact with the blonde man. In his mind, the orthopedic surgeon didn't want to talk. He probably wanted to kick his ass. "Maybe later."

Ryan followed him into the elevator. After the doors closed, he pushed the emergency stop button creating a jolt inside. "Now can we talk, Avery?" he impatiently questioned.

The pretty eyed man cautiously backed up against the farthest wall. "It depends. Will violence be involved? Because I've been in a few scuffles here and there, so I'm prepared to fight for April."

He rolled his eyes and slid his hands inside of his lab coat pockets. "I don't want to fight you. We just need to have an overdue man to man talk without anybody interrupting us," he insisted. "Look, I've always known April was in love with you. She never said it outright, but I'm not an idiot. You were always the one for her. If you make her happy, then fine. That's cool. I respect you, man, so I hope now you'll stop looking at me like I'm the enemy and respect me too."

Jackson folded his arms, slightly furrowing his eyebrows at Ryan. "Are you being for real or is this the beginning of a very sadistic ploy to make nice and murder me later?" he suspiciously asked.

"Do I come off as a guy who wants to kill you?"

"The good looking ones are usually the homicidal maniacs," he noted and immediately pointed at himself. "Except me, of course."

"I'm going to ignore your shallow comment and tell you instead that I'm not a homicidal maniac. If I was, I would've killed you in your sleep when you were crashing at my apartment," Ryan pointed out, rolling his eyes again. "Which is totally different from thinking about suffocating you with a pillow and I've done that, but I'm not twisted enough to actually do it."

Jackson nodded his head. "Okay, then. Well, as long as there aren't any ill feelings towards me…" He stepped forward and extended out his right hand. "I suppose being friends won't hurt either of us. However, I'll make one exception and that's when Harvard and Yale football are playing in The Game. I won't play nice."

"Fine by me," Ryan agreed, shaking the other man's hand. He pushed the emergency stop button again to reactivate the elevator. It stopped on the second floor and he walked out and turned around to face Jackson, smirking at him. "Oh, and you owe me a new inflatable mattress. Electrical tape? Really?"

The doors closed and the plastic surgeon laughed to himself. "Damn," he mumbled, thinking he had gotten away with covering up the hole in Abbott's inflatable mattress. By then, Jackson thought he would have just bought a brand new bed for the spare bedroom. On a positive note, trying to build a friendship with Ryan meant he gained another male friend _and_ the news would earn him more points with April.

Arriving at the ER's floor, he searched for his girlfriend and found her tending to a patient, so he decided to wait for her by the nurses' station until she was finished. The trauma surgeon gave one of her residents instructions on how to treat the patient before heading towards Jackson's direction. She softly chuckled as she stood beside him, clutching her tablet against her chest.

"Do you need something, Dr. Avery?" she innocently asked.

"Actually, yes. As a member of the board, part of my job is to observe the ER and ensure our doctors are doing their jobs sufficiently. Unfortunately, your individual performance is unsatisfactory, Dr. Kepner," Jackson answered with a serious tone to his voice. "In fact, it's better that I speak to you privately about this matter."

April frowned as she followed him out of the pit. She waited until they were in another hallway to smile back at him. "Your angry boss face is kind of cute," she complimented.

"I've practiced," he boasted as they searched for the closest available on-call room. "Abbott cornered me in an elevator earlier."

"He did? What did he say?"

"Nothing threatening, if that's what you're thinking. He uhh, he wants to be friends with me," Jackson truthfully replied and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm cool with it. I mean, as long as he's not secretly trying to kill me. That's what you wanted, right? For us to be friends."

"You don't have to be friends with Ryan if you really don't want to."

"No, I'm going to try. He's another drinking buddy option whenever Karev's busy with Wilson, so it's fine."

"That's great. I'm glad you're willing to give him another chance – just don't fall for him, okay?" April teased and laughed at her own joke.

Jackson shook his head as he opened a door to an empty on-call room. "Yeah, that's definitely not happening." He walked inside with the redhead, closing the door behind him and pinning April against it.

She tugged on the lapels of his lab coat and kissed him. "How was your meeting?"

"Boring as always," he murmured against her lips before moving down to her neck. "It doesn't matter to me how important the job is. It's painfully boring and it cuts into my real job. I feel like I only cut people twice a week these days."

"You poor baby. Anything I can do to make you feel better?"

Jackson grinned as he pushed April's lab coat off of her shoulders. "I've got a few ideas."

* * *

Brushing aside hair that had covered her face, April placed her hand on her forehead as she panted heavily. Beside her, Jackson propped himself up using his elbow and smiled down at her. His breathing was more controlled, but she had equally given him a workout of his own.

"That was…" her voice trailed as she stared at the ceiling.

"You're not gonna say it was stupid again, are you?" the plastic surgeon quipped. She gently slapped his chest in response, then he placed a soft kiss on her lips. He really appreciated the fact that they could make love and she wouldn't feel guilty about it afterwards. "I love you."

"I love you too, Jackson." April crossed her arms over the blanket and smiled. "I like saying that. _I love you_. It's nice to be able to say it to somebody who isn't my mom or dad or my sisters. And to hear it being said back to me, I get this funny feeling in my stomach. That butterfly feeling, you know what I mean?"

He nodded, slipping his hand into hers and interlocking their fingers. "I never really did say it out loud before."

"Not even with Lexie?" It was awkward bringing up their deceased coworker and his ex-girlfriend, but she became incredibly curious. "I always thought you… well, I know you cared deeply for her."

"I did. I'm not sure I could call it love, though. Maybe at the time, I thought it was," Jackson admitted. "But I'm not second guessing my feelings for you. I'm definitely in love with you."

April pressed her free hand against her boyfriend's cheek and smiled, pulling him down for another kiss. Her pager went off on the floor and she rolled over to pick it up. "Incoming trauma," she announced. The redhead rushed to dress herself, while he remained lying in bed. When she finished getting dressed she adjusted her lab coat before hovering over Jackson and kissing him one more time. "See you later."

"Have fun," he playfully called out to her as she sprinted out of the on-call room. Instead of putting his clothes back on, he decided to relax for a few more minutes and recall the amazing sex he just had.

In the hallway, April nearly bulldozed Catherine on her way to the elevator. "Slow down, baby. Where's the fire?" the urologist amusingly inquired.

"Sorry, Dr. Avery. I-I I was just paged for an incoming trauma, so I'm trying to report downstairs to the pit as fast as I can," she explained, forcing a cheesy grin. "Has Jackson told you the news?"

"About what, dear?" Mama Avery noticed something peculiar about April's attire and moved closer to her. "Your scrub top is inside out, by the way."

Glancing down at her shirt, she nervously laughed and backed away from her. "I really should be downstairs for that incoming trauma," she sheepishly said, her cheeks and neck turning a bright shade of red.

"Do you know where my baby boy is, Dr. Kepner?"

"Umm… I'm not sure, but I bet you'll find him soon. You always do," April hurriedly responded before spinning around on her heel and running to the closest stairwell.

Catherine wondered where her son was hiding. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he and the perky surgeon had finally gotten back together. Walking down the hallway, she began snooping through each on-call room she passed by. Just when she thought her luck ran out, she spotted Jackson in bed from the door's window. Without knocking, she barged inside, startling him in the process.

"Is there something you haven't told me, sweetie?" she asked, placing her hand against her hip while she tapped her foot.

Jackson instantly sat up on the bed covering his abdomen and everything below with the blanket. "Mom! Shut the door!" he demanded and closed his eyes. His worst nightmare finally came true – his mother walking in on him after a round of sex. If April had still been next to him, it would have been ten times worse. "Do you mind? I'm… not wearing any underwear."

"Oh, calm down. We'll talk when you're free and fully clothed, okay?" his mother chuckled.

"I have a surgery in about an hour and a half, so our talk will have to wait a little longer," he agitatedly replied. "And yes, I'm with April. You can interrogate me for details later."

Catherine grinned widely at him. "That's my boy."

After she left him alone, Jackson collapsed back onto the bed. He grabbed one of the pillows and covered his face with it, groaning loudly. The pretty boy planned on staying in the on-call room for an extra five minutes, but after his most recent and embarrassing encounter with his mother, another twenty minutes were necessary.

* * *

Even an hour post-surgery, Jackson opted to avoid Catherine as much as possible. He continued to feel humiliated about her discovering him naked in an on-call room and he fully anticipated her giving him grief over it, along with countless questions about his relationship with April. To pass the time, he decided to watch his girlfriend operate on a patient with gall bladder stones while he simultaneously dealt with paperwork for the Harper Avery Foundation. He found himself staring at her from OR 2's gallery more than filling out the papers sitting on his lap.

A small smile formed on his face as he realized how much her scrub cap fit her personality. It was bright and colorful just like she was. He enjoyed seeing her in control of her operating room. People listened to her and didn't question her authority. And of course, her confidence was a major turn on for him.

His peace and quiet in the gallery was disrupted when Catherine joined him and sat down beside him. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he tilted his head down to look at his paperwork. "Yes, Mom?"

"Are you ready to talk, baby?" she politely asked, crossing her legs as she glanced down at April. "She's good for you. I can tell she's less wound up now. I can also say the same for you."

Jackson let out a laugh. "How about we skip all of the sex talk? It was embarrassing when I was fifteen and it's still embarrassing now."

She took his hand and squeezed it. "Then, what do _you_ want to talk about? I feel like I'm always the one who has to initiate the conversation because you hardly open up to me. Sometimes it's like I have to threaten to cut off a finger before you start talking."

He quickly shrugged. Being open with others wasn't his favorite thing to do. It was difficult enough with April and while it felt refreshing to pour out his feelings to her, it wasn't the same situation with Catherine. "I don't know. I'm happy. I don't know what else I'm supposed to say."

"Well, is she the woman you want to marry in the future?"

"Yeah, of course. I thought you knew that."

"I make assumptions, dear. It doesn't mean I actually know what's going on inside of that head of yours," she teased, poking his temple. "So, this means I will be getting grandbabies from you soon, yes?"

Jackson bit down on his lower lip and smiled. "Just don't dictate how many we should have."

Mama Avery squealed in excitement before planting a smooch on her son's cheek. She used her thumb to wipe away the lipstick print she left behind causing him to move his head away. "What? April won't care if she sees us bonding. She might find it attractive, you know."

"I'm sure she does," he murmured. "But it doesn't mean I want you coddling me like I'm two years old."

"Anyway, are you two taking it slow or do you both know what you want?"

"If you're trying to ask me if I'm ready to propose to her, the answer is no. I'm not. We only got back together two days ago, so while we managed to get everything out in the open, we've still got a long road ahead of us," Jackson explained. He stared at his girlfriend again and another smile appeared on his face. "But I can't imagine myself with anybody else."

* * *

April yawned as she stepped out of the elevator when it arrived on the fifth floor. Her shift had ended and she was exhausted. Half of the reason was from running around in the pit and the other half was due to her overzealous and horny boyfriend. Jackson struggled to stay away from her throughout the day even if it was just to check on her. He had been a gentleman, asking her if she needed another round of coffee or a brief massage to ease away the knots in her shoulders.

And she occasionally peeked up at the gallery during her operation when Catherine visited briefly to speak with Jackson. They had appeared to be having a delightful conversation. He smiled continuously about whatever they were talking about. For once, he didn't feel annoyed by her presence.

She entered the locker room and was surprised to see the plastic surgeon sitting in front of her cubby, already dressed out of his scrubs. "You're off? I thought you had more board meeting stuff."

"I did, but after a lengthy talk with my mom, she realized how much of a burden being in charge was for me. I'm not saying I quit the board, but she agreed to take over for me in terms of delegating everything," he happily stated. "That doesn't mean I'm exempt from those boring meetings. I'm still a part of that, but at least partially stepping down from my position gives me more room to be a doctor again."

"That's wonderful," April congratulated Jackson with a kiss. "And your mother's completely fine with that?"

He nodded as he watched her remove her scrub top. "My grandfather will probably send me a ridiculously long e-mail about how Averys are supposed to be leaders instead of followers. I don't care, though. I have to do what's best for me."

"If it makes you happy-"

"It does," he insisted, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "You do too."

"You're so sweet," she gushed. April spent the next few minutes changing into her street clothes, then she and Jackson walked out of the locker room hand in hand. "I'm hungry."

He pressed the button for the main lobby and draped his arm around her shoulders. "Hmm… me too. What are you feeling tonight?"

"I've been aching for a fat, juicy burger from Joe's," she confessed, laughing at his surprised expression. "It's so unlike me, but I really want one. Oh, and a beer. Just thinking about it is making me salivate."

"Huh, now that you mention it, I want the same thing." Jackson kissed the top of April's head and smiled. He loved being on the same page as her. "A casual date at Joe's. Not a bad idea."

"Who said it was a date?" The trauma surgeon stuck her tongue out at him when he blankly stared back at her. She giggled and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "I think anything we do together after work is a date night."

The elevator arrived at the main lobby and they walked out together. "Sounds good to me," he concurred.

April wrapped her arm around Jackson's waist as they exited the hospital side by side. Their journey had been complicated and frustrating, but it helped them realize their true feelings along the way. Now, everything felt perfect between them.

* * *

**Please let me know what you thought of this chapter or the story as a whole :) For those waiting for JM&Y to be updated again, I'll try to work on that soon and I do have a small AU ficlet coming soon as well. Thanks again for reading!**


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